SALT LAKE CITY — An appellate court in Denver has denied a stay of execution for a Utah inmate set to die by firing squad early Friday.
The unsigned opinion by the court said Ronnie Lee Gardner’s argument of a conflict of interest by the Utah attorney general’s office is without merit.
Gardner’s attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging his clemency hearing was biased because of the alleged conflict of interest. They made the same argument in a hand-delivered letter to Gov. Gary Herbert Thursday.
Gardner’s attorneys also have an appeal pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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