Utah corrections department releases protocol for executions by firing squad
Death row inmates are housed at the Uintas Maximum Security facility at Utah State Prison
This June 15, 2016 photo shows Republican Rep. Paul Ray speaking with reporters following a hearing at the Utah State Capitol. Among several legislative efforts, Ray hopes to pass a bill that would place the drug U-47700 ("Pink") on the state's list of Schedule 1 controlled substances.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Corrections has released a partially redacted copy of its execution protocol, including the provisions set forth for execution by firing squad.
The firing squad was an option for capital punishment in the state until it was discontinued in 2004 by the Utah Legislature. In 2015, Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Paul Ray of Clearfield, that reinstated the firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection in the executions of inmates sentenced to death.
READ MORE: How Utah’s execution by firing squad works
States are running out of the ingredients that make up a three-part “cocktail” that has been used as the default mode of execution for decades.
In 2009, a U.S. manufacturer stopped producing sodium thiopental, a fast-acting sedative previously used by most states for lethal injections. An alternative, propofol, was considered in Missouri as an alternative, but European manufacturers, in opposition to the death penalty, have refused to sell the drug for use in executions.
Utah and Oklahoma are now the only states with a provision for the use of a firing squad as an alternative if lethal injection is found to be unconstitutional, unavailable or impractical.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, faced with a drug-supply shortage, has ordered eight death row inmates to be put to death over a span of 11 days, starting April 17. The reason for the rush: The remaining drugs in Alabama’s supply expire at the end of the month.
According to Utah’s technical manual for executions, which was obtained through public records request by MuckRock.com, the “execution team” is a five-person squad with a team leader and at least one alternate. All must be certified peace officers who have proved their firearms proficiency by passing an accuracy test under similar conditions as would be present in an actual execution.
When a death row inmate has exhausted all remedies, the state’s Attorney General can apply for an execution warrant from the sentencing judge in the court from which the sentence originated.
The warrant reads that execution must be carried out no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days from the date of the warrant’s issuance. During that window, the inmate can apply to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole for clemency. The governor is one member of the board.
As of Monday, April 10, there are nine inmates on Utah’s death row. None has a set execution date at this time.
– Michael Anthony Archuleta was convicted in 1989 of the torture, rape and murder of a Southern Utah University student.
– Douglas Stewart Carter was convicted in 1985 of the stabbing and shooting death of an elderly Provo woman in a botched robbery. His death sentence was overturned in 1989. In 1992, he was again sentenced to death.
– Taberon Dave Honie was convicted in 1999 for killing and sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend’s mother in front of her grandchildren in Cedar City.
– Troy Michael Kell was convicted of murder and robbery in Nevada, then came to Utah through interstate trade. He killed another inmate at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison and was sentenced to death in 1996.
– Ronald Watson Lafferty, with the help of his brother, killed his ex-sister-in-law and her 19-month-old child in American Fork. He was convicted in 1985. His brother Dan is serving a sentence of natural life in prison.
– Douglas Lovell was first convicted in 1993 for the murder of a South Ogden woman who was going to testify against him in a rape trial. His death sentence was overturned, but he was resentenced to death in 2015.
– Floyd Eugene Maestas was convicted in 2008 of killing a 75-year-old woman in Salt Lake City.
– Ralph Leroy Menzies was convicted in 1988 of kidnapping and killing a female gas station attendant in Salt Lake County and leaving her body in a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
– Von Lester Taylor was convicted in 1991 of breaking into an unoccupied cabin in Weber County and murdering two of the five family members upon their return.
Contact reporter Nadia Pflaum at npflaum@standard.net.