DRAPER, Utah — The Utah Department of Corrections said it is prepared to carry out the lethal injection execution of Taberon Honie.
STEP-BY-STEP: Last meal? Witnesses? Here's how Honie's execution will take place
"With the signing of the warrant, the process now shifts to the Department of Corrections. We’ve been preparing since late last year," said Brian Redd, the agency's executive director, at a news conference on Tuesday.
On Monday, a judge in Cedar City signed a death warrant to have Honie executed. The Utah Department of Corrections said the death sentence will be carried out just after midnight on August 8.
Honie is facing execution for the 1998 murder of Claudia Benn, the mother of his ex-girlfriend. Iron County prosecutors said he broke into Benn's home, where she tried to protect herself with a knife. Prosecutors alleged he took the knife, slit her throat and sexually assaulted her. Her grandchildren witnessed the gruesome murder.
Honie exhausted all of his appeals late last year. His lawyers are mounting a legal challenge over the new drug cocktail the Utah Department of Corrections plans to use in the lethal injection process. Instead of sodium thiopental, which is not available, the agency is planning to use ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride. Ketamine acts as a sedative, fentanyl seeks to relieve pain and potassium chloride will stop the heart.
Utah's Department of Corrections has declined to update its execution protocols — which dictate dosage and order of drug administration — something defense lawyers for Honie have pressed for. In court on Monday, Honie's attorney, argued it was because the agency feared it would trigger a new round of litigation and likely delay any execution.
Corrections officials argue it is unnecessary to update the protocols, except for some minor changes like noting the new location of the Utah State Prison.
"These policies and procedures have been in place for decades. We’re confident that we still fall in those guidelines we have for ourselves in that we are only going to be coming up with a different combination of drugs. We do believe they will be effective and fast," said Glen Mills, a spokesperson for UDOC.
On Tuesday, corrections officials outlined how they will handle the execution. There will be a designated protest zone and the prisons at Salt Lake City and Gunnison will likely be placed in lockdown while the execution is carried out.
Honie still has petitions before the Utah Supreme Court. He is part of a civil lawsuit by a group of death row inmates challenging the state's methods and execution protocols. In Utah, inmates condemned to die can be executed by lethal injection or firing squad. His attorney told FOX 13 News on Monday that he would also appeal the judge's signing of the death warrant to the Utah Supreme Court.
Honie can also seek a commutation hearing before the Utah Board of Pardons & Parole. As of Tuesday, the parole board said it had not yet received a request from Honie or his lawyers.
The last time Utah executed an inmate was the 2010 firing squad death of Ronnie Lee Gardner. The state is also seeking to execute Ralph Leroy Menzies for the 1986 kidnapping and murder of Maurine Hunsaker. That is on hold after a judge ordered Menzies to undergo mental competency evaluations when his attorneys raised concerns he may suffer from dementia.
