Utah judge sets execution date in 1998 murder despite concerns over a new lethal injection cocktail
A Utah judge on Monday set a date for the execution of a man convicted of killing a 49-year-old woman in 1998.
Taberon Dave Honie, 48, will be killed on August 8 after decades of failed appeals. It is the first public execution in Utah since Ronnie Lee Gardner was killed by firing squad in 2010, according to Glen Mills, spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections.
Honie’s attorney Eric Zuckerman said during a hearing Monday that state officials did not tell the defense about the “experimental” drug combination until Friday, which he said did not allow sufficient time to review the drugs and allow Honie to make an informed decision.
Two of the three drugs suggested for Honie’s execution — the painkiller fentanyl and potassium chloride to stop the heart — have been used before, Mills said. But a third proposed drug, the sedative ketamine, has not been used before to Mills’ knowledge.
“The state has not provided any details about this new procedure, including the drug doses. And the state says it will not revise its written procedures, making it the only jurisdiction that can move forward with an execution without precise written procedures,” Zuckerman said in a statement after the hearing. He asked for more information and time to consult medical experts.
Dan Bokovoy, an attorney for the Department of Corrections, said the law does not require the agency to update its protocols. Daniel Boyer, of the Utah attorney general’s office, argued that Honie had exhausted his appeal options and that it was the judge’s duty to sign off on the execution and set a date.
Judge Jeffrey Wilcox sided with the state, saying there was no legal reason to further delay the sentencing.
“After hearing today’s arguments, I am not prepared to rule and say that these protocols (lethal injections) are necessary before this court will sign an execution order,” Wilcox said in court. He added that prisoners are not given a fair trial. right to receive the terms of their implementation protocol.
But Wilcox requested that information regarding the administration of the drugs for the execution be provided to Honie as soon as possible.
Honie was convicted in 1999 of aggravated murder for the July 9, 1998, killing of Claudia Benn, 49.
Honie, then 22 years old, smashed the glass patio door of Benn’s home while she was home with her three granddaughters and daughter, court documents show. Honie slit Benn’s throat four times and police arrived at the home to find him covered in blood, according to court documents.
The use of the death penalty was effectively suspended by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 but reinstated four years later, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.
Since then, seven people have been executed in Utah, including four by lethal injection and three by firing squads, Mills said.
Honie’s execution will take place at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, Mills said.
His unsuccessful appeals included arguments that his trial attorney failed to raise issues of Honie’s mental illness and substance abuse during sentencing.
Executions under current state law in Utah are carried out by lethal injection unless the necessary drugs are not available or there is another reason why it cannot be carried out, Mills said. In that case, the execution could be transferred to a firing squad as a fallback method, he said.
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Bedayn is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.