Condemned man set for firing squad execution in Utah sues to block commutation hearing

Inmate set for firing squad sues to stop hearing

SALT LAKE CITY — A death row inmate set for execution by firing squad in just 10 days is asking a federal judge to block the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole from holding his scheduled commutation hearing.

Ronnie Lee Gardner is scheduled to be executed on June 18 and the planned two-day hearing is set to begin on Thursday.

Attorneys for Gardner said the board’s process is tainted.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court late Tuesday, Gardner said lawyers that represent the board work for the Utah attorney general’s office — the entity that sought his death warrant. Those state attorneys will also argue against the board commuting Gardner’s death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gardner said that’s a conflict that violates his constitutional rights.

In court papers, his attorneys claim the parole board relied on advice from the attorney general’s office in deciding to block Gardner’s brother and other witnesses from testifying on his behalf. In the complaint, Gardner’s attorney, Andrew Parnes, asks a federal judge to bar the attorney general’s office from presenting its case at the commutation hearing.

Gardner’s lawyers also ask the judge to order the board to consider the videotaped statements from the family of Gardner’s murdered victim, Michael Burdell, in making its decision. Parnes said the board had arbitrarily decided the video statement could not be heard.

An emergency hearing was set for Wednesday evening before U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell.

The complaint names both the board and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

Gardner, 49, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1985 fatal shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during a botched escape attempt at the old Salt Lake City courthouse.