POLL: Is the death penalty appropriate justice for murderers?
LINK: Watch Shurtleff's statement of execution
After announcing the execution of convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he does not take the state's power to execute lightly.
"I do want to say that for us, the fact that we have exercised the most extreme power that the state has, that government has, to take life, it's done very solemnly," Shurtleff said. "It's a very sobering moment and I'll tell you that I have nothing but a very profound sense of humility right now with the role this office plays in executing justice. That's what this has been about, only justice. Justice for the victims and their families."
Gardner was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m. today after facing a five-man firing squad.
Shurtleff noted that the state attorney general's office had been involved in Gardner's case for a quarter of a century.
"People say that 25 years is too long. Sometimes justice is long in coming. In this state of Utah, we are absolutely committed to not only protecting the public and representing the rights and interests of victims, but even those accused of heinous crimes have every right under the Constitution and the laws of this state to make the government prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt," Shurtleff said. "If they have committed heinous aggravated murder like Ronnie Lee Gardner, then it's our responsibility to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that death is the only just punishment for that crime."
Shurtleff said only six-tenths of one percent of convicted murderers are executed.
"In this country, we've shown that we don't do this lightly. No state does it lightly," he said.
While the debate over the death penalty will and should continue, Shurtleff said, "You need to understand Ronnie Lee Gardner will never kill again. He will never assault anybody again."
Whether or not the death penalty it is a deterrent to others, justice may be slow, but it will come to those who defy the rule of law, Shurtleff said.
"They will be held accountable for their actions. Right now Ronnie Lee Gardner is being held accountable to a higher power. I hope and I pray that he will be given the mercy he denied his victims."
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