Execution looming, Ronnie Lee Gardner makes another plea to spare his life

SALT LAKE CITY — As he stood before the justices of the Utah Supreme Court, Andrew Parnes called them "the court of last resort."

With just two weeks and a few hours before his client, Ronnie Lee Gardner, was scheduled to be executed by firing squad, Parnes' arguments Thursday were indeed one of the last chances to save the death-row inmate's life.

Gardner, convicted of shooting and killing an attorney during an attempted escape in 1985, has asked the state's high court to halt his execution and give him another shot at convincing a jury he deserves a life sentence.

The inmate's appeal, which follows the signing of an execution warrant, claims his counsel in the state courts was ineffective; that he did not receive funding for a post-conviction challenge; and that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to take his life after a prolonged stay on death row.

"We don't want to delay for delay's sake," Parnes said outside the courtroom. "This is Mr. Gardner's life. He's never had that fair hearing."

Gardner claims he had an opportunity during a federal appellate hearing to present evidence that the jury did not have a chance to hear during the original penalty phase. If the jury had seen the "full picture" of his life — brain damage caused by physical abuse, a history of sexual abuse and a history of drug addiction that started at age 5 or 6, when siblings gave him inhalants — there would have been a "reasonable probability" at least one juror would have acted to spare him.

While prosecutors acknowledged the federal evidence presented a "grimmer picture of Gardner's upbringing," they doubt it would have impacted the sentence, court documents state.

Gardner was sentenced to death in November 1985 for shooting and killing defense attorney Michael Burdell in April of that year. Gardner was in court on charges stemming from the murder of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom when he attempted to escape from guards and, with a gun slipped to him by an accomplice, killed Burdell and wounded court bailiff George "Nick" Kirk.

Throughout his life, Gardner had shown "obsession" with escaping and a willingness to do so at any cost, the state wrote in court documents. Because of his actions in November 1985, the jury sentenced him to death.

Gardner, 49, is slated to die by firing squad June 18.

He has spent more than 25 years in prison, and his lawyers argue executing him now would serve no purpose and would be cruel and unusual punishment.

For Otterstrom's family, at least, Gardner's time has come.