Calling the planning process rushed and shrouded in secrecy, Taberon Honie has asked Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to temporarily delay his execution this week so prison officials have more time to make sure the lethal injection will be done safely.
Honie’s legal team sent a two-page letter to the governor late last week asking for a temporary reprieve, saying the prison’s rush to execute him “risks dangerous outcomes.” He is scheduled to be executed this Thursday just after midnight.
A spokesperson for Cox did not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Glen Mills, communications director for the Department of Corrections, disagreed in a Monday statement with the defense’s description of execution planning. “We have been meticulously planning this process for several months,” Mill said.
“We understand the defense has a job to do, but the narrative of a rushed, and even reckless process is false,” he added. “ ... We are approaching our responsibility with the utmost care and professionalism.”
Honie’s lawyers have asked the governor to use his power to halt the execution and order a review of the prison’s execution procedures. They say it’s been done before, pointing to a time in 2022 when Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey put executions on hold and ordered a “top-to-bottom” review after a failed execution attempt.
“Other Republican governors have stepped in to make sure that their corrections departments have adequate time to prepare for executions,” they wrote.
[Read more: Death penalty in Utah: Who is condemned to die on death row? How often are prisoners executed?]
Honie’s lawyers wrote that since the Utah attorney general office’s office sought an execution warrant for their client over three months ago, prison officials have changed the drugs they intend to use to kill Honie three times.
First, they were planning to use an unspecified drug combination, according to Honie’s legal team — details of which are not known because the lawyers say prison officials refuse to declassify relevant documents.
Then, the department changed course — announcing it would use an untested combination of ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride. This was decided in consultation with an unnamed pharmacist who said pentobarbital, a commonly used death penalty drug, was unavailable.
But Honie sued over this drug combination, arguing that it put him at risk of a torturous death in violation of the state’s constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. So the state changed its plans for a third time, the letter explains, announcing it would be able to obtain pentobarbital in time for Honie’s Aug. 8 execution. Pentobarbital is the authorized lethal injection drug in at least 10 other states.
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