Prosecutors seeking to put Ronnie Lee Gardner to death may have found a new way to do it.
Friday, Gardner was charged with aggravated assault by a prisoner, a capital offense, in connection with a Sept. 25 stabbing at the Utah State Prison. State law allows officials to seek the death penalty if an inmate convicted of a first-degree felony intentionally injures another inmate or an officer."We're trying to deter Ronnie Lee Gardner and others from taking free shots at other inmates and other guards in prison," said Salt Lake County Attorney David Yocom.
Gardner, 35, is accused of stabbing inmate Richard Thomas several times in the abdomen, chest, neck and face with a homemade "shank" that resembled an ice pick. Officers saw Gardner stand in the doorway of Thomas' cell and make stabbing motions toward the inmate, court documents state.
An investigator later heard Gardner describe the stabbing to other inmates, according to the charges. Thomas, 40, was hospitalized for two days.
Inmates at the prison have stated that Gardner stabbed the man to prove to other prisoners that he is tougher than inmate Troy Michael Kell, accused of fatally stabbing fellow inmate Lonnie Blackmon 67 times.
"That's what they're saying, but whether it's true or not we don't know," said Corrections investigator Jennie Glover. "Gardner's the type of person that doesn't seem to need an excuse."
The stabbing, which the Deseret News reported Sept. 27, occurred just two days after Kell and two other prisoners appeared in court and were ordered to stand trial for capital murder. Gardner was drunk from a batch of alcoholic brew he'd mixed inside his cell when the stabbing occurred, said Corrections spokesman Jack Ford.
Although the law allowing capital punishment for prison assaults has been on the books since 1974, this is only the second time prosecutors in the state have filed such an offense, Yocom said.
Just last week, Gary Wilson Simmons was charged with the same crime in an assault on officer Hank Armbruster Oct. 26 at the Iron County Jail/Prison.
Officials admit this case will probably test the law but believe the law is necessary to try to prevent prisoners who have nothing to lose from injuring others.
"The strongest impact will be on the other inmates," Yocom said. "Those are the people we want to get the message to."
Yocom said his office will ask that Gardner's court appearances be held inside the Draper prison to prevent security problems. Gardner was convicted of killing an attorney during a failed escape attempt at the Salt Lake Metropolitan Hall of Justice in 1985.
Gardner was in court that day facing another murder charge for the 1984 shooting death of a bartender. A woman handed him a gun as he was being transported and he fatally shot attorney Michael Burdell in the basement of the building. He also shot and wounded bailiff Nick Kirk.
A jury convicted Gardner and imposed a death sentence. But Judge Raymond Uno overturned the sentence, ruling that Gardner had ineffective counsel during the penalty phase. Prosecutors appealed that ruling.
Even though Utah's highest court heard arguments more than two years ago, the justices still haven't issued a ruling.