Utah abandoned plans to put a man to death with an untested lethal drug combination in his upcoming execution. A previously used drug will be used for Taberon Dave Honie's execution instead.
Lawyers for Honie, 49, had filed a lawsuit against the use of the proposed drug combination, arguing it could cause "excruciating suffering" for him.
The planned execution on August 8 would be Utah 's first since Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in 2010. Honie was found guilty of the aggravated murder of his girlfriend's mother, Claudia Benn, 49, in 1998.
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Despite objections from his defense team over the intended lethal drug combination, Honie's execution warrant was signed last month following years of unsuccessful appeals. His lawyers argued that the initial two drugs - the sedative ketamine and the anesthetic fentanyl - wouldn't sufficiently prevent Honie from experiencing pain when potassium chloride was administered to stop his heart.
In response, the Utah Department of Corrections has chosen to use a single drug - pentobarbital - for the execution. Agency spokesperson Glen Mills stated that state attorneys have filed court documents requesting the dismissal of the lawsuit.
"We will obtain and use pentobarbital for the execution," Mills confirmed, adding that agency officials still believe the three-drug combination was effective and humane.
State officials have previously admitted that they are unaware of any other instances where the three-drug combination has been used in an execution.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington DC, at least 14 states have utilized pentobarbital in executions.
However, there is evidence suggesting that pentobarbital can also cause severe pain, as seen in federal executions carried out during the final months of Donald Trump's presidency.
Eric Zuckerman, Honie's attorney in the lawsuit and a federal defender, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In the meantime, a hearing is set for Monday on Honie's appeal to the state parole board to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.
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Last month, Honie's lawyers stated in a petition that a traumatic and violent childhood, long-term drug abuse, a previous brain injury, and extreme intoxication all contributed to Honie's actions when he broke into Benn's house and murdered her.
They attributed poor legal counsel for allowing Honie - originally from the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona - to be sentenced by a judge rather than a jury, which might have been more sympathetic and spared him the death penalty .
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