SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A petition to commute the death sentence of Taberon Honie, who is currently set to be executed by lethal injection this summer, argues that the inequalities he’s faced warrant that his sentence be changed to life without parole.
Filed on June 14, the petition to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole argues that the 48-year-old Hopi-Tewa man suffered from a traumatic background, substance abuse, brain damage, and was extremely intoxicated when he murdered Claudia Benn in 1998. His lawyers argued that he has expressed remorse since the crime and still plays a role in the lives of his daughter and granddaughter.
“The inequalities of Mr. Honie’s case warrant commuting his death sentence to life without parole,” the petition states.
Honie, who has been on Utah’s death row for 25 years, is currently slated to be executed by lethal injection on Aug. 8. Earlier this month, a judge signed his death warrant.
But since his counsel filed the commutation petition last week, it set into motion a series of events wherein the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole could commute his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What happens next?
First, the Utah Attorney General’s Office will respond to the commutation petition. They have until Friday to do so. After that, the board will determine whether or not to grant a commutation hearing.
Jennifer Yim, administrative director at the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, said in a news conference Tuesday that the five-member board will determine if a “substantial issue exists” that has not already been addressed by the judicial process.
The decision could take up to two weeks, and will be made with a board majority.
If it’s determined there is no substantial issue, the process will end there and the execution will go on as scheduled. However, if the board decides there is an issue, there would be a commutation hearing in July wherein witnesses, including Honie, would speak before the board.
Should Honie’s sentence be commuted, it would only change to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The board could also decide to go ahead with the death sentence, which will be carried out by the Utah Department of Corrections.
The last commutation hearing in Utah happened in 2010 in the case of Ronnie Lee Gardner. His petition was denied, and he was executed by firing squad.
