Death row inmate Taberon Honie stands up as he leaves the Utah Board of Pardons commutation hearing Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the Utah State Correctional Facility, in Salt Lake City. (Pool photo by Rick Bowmer/AP)
A judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit from death row inmate Taberon Honie, rejecting arguments from his attorney that prison officials are not prepared and that inconsistencies in their current plan could lead to a “botched execution.”
When asked whether he would appeal the ruling, Honie’s attorney Eric Zuckerman said he is evaluating all options. But the window is closing fast, with Honie’s execution by lethal injection still planned for Aug. 8.
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“The Department of Corrections is going to carry out an execution without written or accurate protocols. I don’t know why they want to do that, but it’s dangerous,” Zuckerman said to reporters after the hearing.
But in her ruling, 3rd District Judge Linda Jones said Honie did not actually identify any injuries he would suffer because of inconsistencies in the state’s execution protocol, while “the potential injury he identifies is speculative at best.” Jones also said the state is allowed to adopt new rules to the execution protocol, invalidating Honie’s complaint that the changes violated Utah law.