Utah Pardon Board Grants Commutation Hearing for Death Row Man

SALT LAKE CITY — A man sentenced to be executed in Utah later this summer will receive a commutation hearing next month, fulfilling a request he made after signing his execution warrant earlier this month.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Paroles announced Friday that it has granted a commutation hearing for Taberon Honie, which will take place in July. Honie, 48, of Cedar City, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 8 after being convicted in 2002 of sexually assaulting and murdering the mother of his ex-girlfriend, Claudia Benn, in 1998 in front of her three grandchildren.

“This critical milestone underscores the Board’s commitment to fairness, justice and integrity in Utah’s criminal justice system,” Jennifer Yim, executive director of the Utah Board of Pardons and Paroles, said in a statement.

A Utah judge signed an execution warrant June 10, after multiple appeals and rulings over the past two decades upheld the sentence. Unless his sentence is commuted, Honie is expected to be the first person executed under the state's new lethal injection mix of ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride.

However, Honie and his attorneys filed a 45-page request June 18 to have his death sentence commuted, which would change his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

They state that Honie “has always taken responsibility for his actions and expressed remorse,” adding that “Honie's traumatic past, brain injuries, long-standing drug addiction and extreme intoxication affected his behavior at the time of the crime.”

The exact date of the hearing has not yet been determined, but the five-member Pardon Board will make the final decision on whether Honie should face life in prison or be executed.

Yim said Honie and his lawyers will be allowed to present testimony and “justifying arguments” to justify changing his sentence, while the state will be allowed to do the same to justify its refusal if it objects to the measure. Victims will also have the opportunity to speak at the hearing.

“The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole remains committed to fostering a process grounded in procedural justice and accountability while ensuring that every decision reflects these fundamental principles,” she said.

Next month's hearing will be the first commutation hearing in the state since Ronnie Lee Gardner's request in 2010. The commission ultimately denied Gardner's request. He was subsequently executed by firing squad on June 18, 2010, the last time Utah has carried out an execution.