News / USA

Condemned US Killer to Face Execution by Firing Squad

TEXT SIZE - +

A convicted killer in the western U.S. state of Utah has chosen to die by firing squad, in Utah's first execution in more than 10 years.

Ronnie Lee Gardner indicated his preference at a state court in Salt Lake City Friday.

He was convicted in 1985 of fatally shooting an attorney during a failed escape attempt at a courthouse in the same city.

Under state law, the 49-year-old Gardner had a choice between death by lethal injection or a by five-person team of shooters.

Utah is one of two states that permit execution by firing squad.  Utah outlawed the method in 2004, but prisoners convicted before then still have it as an option.

The central U.S. state of Oklahoma also permits death by firing squad, but only if other methods are rejected in particular cases.

Lethal injection is the preferred means of executing prisoners in the U.S., whose Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Since then, only two prisoners in the U.S. have been executed by firing squad, both of them in Utah.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

You May Like

South Africa to Host World's Biggest Telescope

South Africa competed against Australia to host the telescope, the final decision was to split the SKA between the two countries More

Report: Global Warming Could Reverse Development

World Bank study says warmer climates threaten advances and could exacerbate poverty in world’s poorest regions More

Video Inmates Fight Fires, Gain Skills for Life After Prison

In California, physically fit inmates with no history of violent crimes can train, work as firefighters while serving their time More

This forum has been closed.
Comments
     
There are no comments in this forum. Be first and add one

Featured Videos

Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Your JavaScript is turned off or you have an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Video

Video Human Rights Film Festival Highlights Gender, Economic Issues

Twenty new films from around the world are screening in New York this week, as part of the 24th annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and IFC Center. The issues explored range from the rights of women, gays and the disabled, to economic justice, to political murder, torture and wrongful imprisonment. VOA’s Carolyn Weaver reports from New York.