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Death Row Inmate Executed by Firing Squad ? California Penal Code Section 3604

By Walin & Klarich

CNN recently reported that Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49, was executed by firing squad for the shooting death of attorney Michael Burdell during a failed escape attempt from custody in 1985 at a Salt Lake City, Utah courthouse. A hood was placed over Gardner's head and a paper target pinned to his chest. He was heavily restrained as a five-person firing squad took aim at the target and shot him. Gardner is only the third person to die by firing squad in the United States in 33 years. The last time that California used firing squad for death row inmates was just before the state joined the union. Currently, under the California Penal Code Section 3604, the death penalty is carried out by the administration of a lethal gas or by an intravenous injection of a substance in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on June 18, 2010 (boomark / email).