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Reader Feedback: Death Penalty Debate
By not in system - AOL News(June 22) -- Editors note: The following is a sampling of reader reaction to the death penalty debate published on the Opinion page of AOL News ("Death Penalty Only Hurts Victims' Families" by Beth Wood and "Executing Ronnie Lee Gardner Could Save Lives" by David B. Muhlhausen). Letters have been edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter to the editor, write to opinion@aolnews.com. After reading Beth Wood's (anti) and David Muhlhausen's (pro) death penalty opinions, the flaws in both of their opinions are obvious, to wit: 1) Beth Wood and others of her anti-death-penalty mindset ...
Firing Squad Execution Sobering, but Dramatic
By not in system - AOL NewsDRAPER, Utah (June 18) - The explosive reports sent a volley of .30-caliber bullets from the five marksmen into the chest of Ronnie Lee Gardner. I was expecting to flinch but didn't as I watched his execution from the witness room. It was so quick that for a split-second I wondered if it had actually happened. There was no blood splattered across the white cinderblock wall at the Utah State Prison. No audible sounds from the condemned. I couldn't see his eyes. I never saw the guns and didn't hear the countdown to the trigger-pull. A twice-convicted killer who had a troubled upbringing, ...
Utah Attorney General Tweets Ronnie Lee Gardner Execution
By Paul Wachter - Politics DailyUtah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has a Twitter account to keep citizens informed on state matters. Over the past 24 hours, that has included updates on the execution of convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad. .bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/15539776/background.jpg) #1A1B1F;padding:20px;} I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.Fri Jun 18 06:02:49 via TwitBird iPhoneMark Shurtleff MarkShurtleff On Thursday, Shurtleff tweeted: "A solemn day. ...
Utah Firing Squad Executes Convicted Killer
By Lauren Frayer - AOL News(June 18) -- Convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner died by a rifle barrage this morning after nearly 25 years on death row in Utah, in the state's first execution by firing squad in 14 years. Gardner, 49, was only the third American in 33 years to die by the controversial method. He was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m. local time. Just before midnight, Gardner was strapped to a chair, hooded and a target pinned to his chest. Five executioners -- all police officers who volunteered for the job -- stood 25 feet away with .30-caliber Winchester rifles. One fired a blank, but no one knows which, ...
Utah's Firing Squad to Execute Ronnie Lee Gardner Tonight
By Dana Chivvis - Politics DailyRonnie Lee Gardner, a 49-year-old convicted killer, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad in Utah shortly after midnight tonight. The execution method is rare and considered barbaric by some, but Gardner chose the firing squad over lethal injection when asked by a judge in April which he preferred. Though firing squads have now been outlawed in Utah, the law was not retroactive, allowing Gardner to choose it for his own death. The last person to be executed by firing squad in the United States was John Albert Taylor, who was shot to death in Utah in 1996. Taylor was convicted of raping ...
Debate: Executing Ronnie Lee Gardner Could Save Lives
By not in system - AOL News(June 17) -- Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, a Utah firing squad will execute condemned murder Ronnie Lee Gardner shortly after midnight tonight. (Utah outlawed firing squads in 2004, but the state allows an exemption for death-row inmates who beforehand expressed a partiality for the method.) Before you decide whether or not this is right, consider what Gardner did. Opposing View: The death penalty wastes money that could be better spent helping victims' families, says Beth Wood of Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation. During a court appearance for the murder of Melvyn ...
The Firing Squad and Ronnie Lee Gardner: In the End, an All Too Typical Tale
By Andrew Cohen - Politics DailyWhat's remarkable about the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner early Friday morning isn't simply that it will be carried out via firing squad, a grisly vestige of Utah's frontier heritage. It isn't that Gardner murdered poor Michael Burdell more than 25 years ago and is only now about to see his capital sentence enacted. It isn't even that Gardner got a clemency hearing from the draconian Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, which has held only two such hearings since 1977. The most remarkable thing about the Gardner execution is how utterly typical the condemned man's ...
Utah Judge OKs Convict's Request for Firing Squad
By David Knowles - AOL News(April 23) -- A Utah killer has been granted his final wish. Barring further legal intervention, on June 18 five police officers will line up, point rifles at convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner and fire. Third District Judge Robin Reese signed the execution warrant today, after the 49-year-old Gardner told him, "I would like the firing squad, please." Francisco Kjolseth, Pool / AP Ronnie Lee Gardner, here in court Friday, is scheduled to be executed June 18. The Utah Legislature passed a law in 2004 that prohibits using the firing squad as a method of execution; however, Gardner and ...
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