SALT LAKE CITY, June 2 (UPI) -- A Utah judge has rejected a death-row inmate's request for an order to halt his scheduled June 18 execution, authorities said.
Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49, faces a firing squad for the April 1985 killing of an attorney during an attempted escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
On May 4, Gardner filed a petition seeking to halt his execution.
Third District Judge Robin Reese said Tuesday the law does not require him to order a temporary stay when a death-row inmate files such a petition, the newspaper said. Reese noted he rejected Gardner's petition last week.
The judge signed the warrant for execution on April 23.
Gardner picked the firing squad over lethal injection, the Tribune reported.
