Honie’s defense attorneys call on Gov. Cox for reprieve ahead of Aug. 8 execution date

SALT LAKE CITY — The defense team of a Utah death row inmate is stopping at nothing to halt — or at least delay — his scheduled execution, which is now just three days away.

On Monday, KSL received a letter sent from Taberon Honie’s defense team to Gov. Spencer Cox on Thursday, pleading for him to grant Honie a reprieve “so that adequate time and preparation can be taken to ensure a safe process.”

The letter, signed by Honie’s attorneys Therese Day and Eric Zuckerman, argued the Utah Department of Corrections “hastily rushed” the execution process, which was “shrouded in secrecy.”

After a back-and-forth between Honie’s defense and the state on what drug should be selected to perform the execution — at one point, the state suggesting a never-tested concoction of ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride — it was finally confirmed Honie would be administered pentobarbital.

In the letter, the defense team upheld the argument they made in court during Honie’s last appeal, stating the UDC’s final execution plan was too vague — hidden in classified documents. The Third District Judge who heard the arguments sided with the state, ruling Honie wasn’t entitled to more specifics.

Those specifics, like the anonymous source where the pentobarbital will come from, are protected by a secrecy statute written in Utah law. Defense attorneys allege the law was “surreptitiously added to an uncontroversial corrections bill at the last minute, without any public notice or debate.”

 

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KSL Investigates previously reported that according to the Death Penalty Information Center, secrecy statutes are common in death penalty states.

Still, Honie’s attorneys took issue with the $200,000 the state plans to pay for the drug, which they said is more than twice that of any other state. Further, they outlined the temperatures the drug is required to be kept in, arguing the supplier claims to store the drug in a temperature range too vague to know whether it’s safe.

Lastly, the letter outlines the state’s refusal to amend injection procedures, even though pentobarbital is a different drug than the original procedures were written for. However, the statute grants an “equally or more effective substance sufficient to cause death” to be used if the original drug, sodium thiopental, couldn’t be.

“UDC’s lethal injection protocol is not the same as any other state. This is a direct result of UDC’s refusal to amend its 2010 lethal injection procedures,” the letter states, “No state carries out executions without an accurate and complete written protocol. The only thing they have in common with other states is the fact that they intend to use pentobarbital.”

The letter concludes by asking Cox to instruct the UDC to update its protocols, giving examples of governors in other states who halted executions and ordered reviews of the execution process.

The UDC responded to KSL TV’s request for comment with the following:

We have been meticulously planning this process for several months.
Statute requires us to use sodium thiopental or an equally effective substance.
Sodium thiopental has not been available for years.
Therefore, we consulted with medical professionals on several different combinations before determining the best method would be the originally proposed three-drug combination.Once we came to that conclusion, we immediately released it to the public.
Acknowledging the novelty, and a likely lengthy legal battle we agreed to change to pentobarbital which the defense suggested as an acceptable alternative.

We understand the defense has a job to do, but the narrative of a rushed, and even reckless process is false. We appreciate Judge Jones pointing out in her ruling that not only have we not violated Mr. Honie’s rights, but we have provided more information than necessary.
We are approaching our responsibility with the utmost care and professionalism.

Honie was convicted of brutally killing his ex-girlfriend’s mother in front of her three grandchildren in 1998. If his execution proceeds as it is scheduled to do so, Honie will be the first lethal injection in Utah in nearly 25 years.