SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has announced they have granted a hearing to death row convict Taberon Honie over whether or not his sentence should be commuted to life in prison.
The hearing will take place some time in July, though the board did not give a specific date. The hearing will occur before the full Board at the Utah State Correction Facility in Salt Lake City. Notice of the hearing will be posted on bop.utah.gov as well as the State of Utah Public Meeting and Notice website, according to a press release.
Honie is set to be executed by the State of Utah on Aug. 8. The hearing and the board’s final decision has been promised before that execution date.
“This pivotal step underscores the Board’s commitment to fairness, justice, and integrity within Utah’s criminal justice system,” said UBPP’s Administrative Director Jennifer Yim.
According to a press release from UBPP, the hearing process involves five steps: filing the petition, reviewing the petition, granting or denying a hearing, conducting a hearing, and making the decision to grant or deny the commutation petition. Only the last two steps remain in Honie’s case.
“At the hearing, the petitioner may present testimony and provide supporting arguments concerning the substantial issues raised in a given petition,” Yim said. “The State may also present testimony and provide arguments against the substantial issues raised in the given petition. The Board will also provide victims with an opportunity to be heard at the hearing.”
Honie’s execution warrant was filed with the Fifth Judicial District Court in Iron County, and was signed June 10 by Senior Judge Jeffrey C. Wilcox.
Honie was convicted of aggravated murder in May 1999 and sentenced to death that same month. Earlier this year, the state of Utah filed a warrant to move forward with his execution after he had attempted to appeal his case.
Court documents said Honie was charged with the murder of Claudia Benn in the 1990s, while attempting to commit other crimes including object rape, forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual assault, burglary, aggravated burglary, and aggravated child sex abuse.
Honie was found guilty of the first five of those additional charges by the jury in the case. The jury was unable to reach unanimity on the aggravated child sex abuse.
When Honie was arrested, he was covered in blood after cutting Benn’s throat and slashing her with a kitchen knife. Benn was also bitten and sexually assaulted, and Honie used a rock to smash through a glass patio door.
Honie waived the right to a jury for the penalty phase of the court proceedings before being sentenced to death on May 24, 1999.
