Firing squad in Utah may finally die

Utah's controversial firing squad may be doomed.

"Essentially, we're going to discuss the repeal of the firing squad" during a meeting today of the state Sentencing Commission, says executive director Ron Gordon. Gordon has conducted a study that examines different methods of execution and the question of who decides on which method to employ — the Legislature or the condemned person.

A new Deseret Morning News-KSL poll found that while 45 percent of Utahns still favor the firing squad, 51 percent believe it should not continue to be an option. Still, a firm majority — 78 percent of respondents — favor the death penalty for capital crimes. The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, shows that only 17 percent oppose executions. The survey, conducted July 9-16, has a 4 percent margin of error.

Utah is one of several states giving the condemned the right to choose the method of execution. The firing-squad option, however, has drawn criticism and curiosity both here and around the world — not exactly the kind of attention some state leaders like.

That most recent attention — from the now-delayed executions of Roberto Arguelles and Troy Kell that had been scheduled for June — has prompted a study of capital punishment methods by Utah's Sentencing Commission, which will present its findings at noon today in the Matheson Courthouse. The report could change how the state carries out executions in the future.

Department of Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said that of the 50 official executions carried out in Utah's history, 40 were by firing squad, six were by hanging and four by lethal injection. The Legislature eliminated the use of hanging in 1983 in favor of lethal injection.

Utah is the only state still actively using the firing-squad method, although Idaho and Oklahoma retain it as a legal option if lethal injection is not viable. Lethal injection is the most commonly used method of execution, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Each time the firing squad has been used, Utah has drawn global attention, Ford said. When John Albert Taylor was executed in 1996, hundreds of news organizations from around the world requested credentials to cover the event. Protesters descended in droves outside the Utah State Prison in Draper the night of the execution.

Gordon believes that state- and nationwide scrutiny makes it difficult for the Department of Corrections to carry out executions when ordered. He said the methods study was in part prompted by informal conversations with corrections officials.