SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert signed the bill Monday allowing the use of firing squad for executions if lethal drugs are not available.
According to the Associated Press, the Governor has said he finds the method “a little bit gruesome,” but that it gives the state a fallback execution method.
Earlier Report: The state Senate voted 18-10 Tuesday for the practice, which had been abandoned by Utah more than a decade ago, the AP said.
Today, The State of Utah passed a bill that would make firing squads the backup method of execution if lethal injection drugs cannot be obtained.
The bill goes to Gov. Gary Herbert, who hasn’t said if he will sign it, AP said. If it becomes law, Utah would be the only state to allow the execution method.
According to the law:
The Bill provides that if substances are not available to carry out the death penalty by lethal injection on the date specified by warrant, the death penalty shall be carried out by firing squad. —
“When a defendant is convicted of a capital felony and the judgment of death has
been imposed, lethal intravenous injection is the method of execution….”
“If a court holds that a defendant has a right to be executed by a firing squad, the method of execution for that defendant shall be a firing squad. This Subsection applies to any defendant whose right to be executed by a firing squad is preserved by that.”
