Utah officials declared on Saturday that they switched the execution method for death row inmate Taberon Dave Honie from an experimental three-drug lethal injection to a well-known single-drug injection, according to The Salt Lake Tribute.

Honie was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for murdering Claudia Benn, the mother of his girlfriend at the time. Honie has raised numerous unsuccessful challenges concerning his conviction and sentencing.

On June 10, 2024, the Fifth Judicial District Court of Utah issued an execution warrant for Honie set for August 8, 2024. Honie sued Utah officials in the Third Judicial District Court on July 11, 2024, challenging the administration of the experimental three-drug concoction.

The experimental injection would have contained Ketamine, Fentanyl and Potassium Chloride. Honie argued that Utah would be the first state to use Ketamine for a lethal injection and that it “commonly produces paranoia, anxiety, strong hallucinations, disorientation, distorted self-perception, and out-of-body experiences.” Honie feared that Fentanyl, even with large doses, cannot reliably produce unconsciousness or lack of pain and it would make him “feel as if his chest has turned to stone, rendering him unable to breathe.” For Potassium Chloride, Honie claimed that since it stops the heart, and since the ketamine and fentanyl dosages would not be effective in producing unconsciousness or lack of pain, he would “feel as if his veins have been set on fire and he is being burned alive, followed by the agonizing pain of cardiac arrest.”

Honie argues that the three-drug lethal injection creates “an unnecessary and substantial risk of serious harm” as against the prohibition of “unnecessary rigor and cruel and unusual punishment” in Article 1, Section 9 of the Utah Constitution.

Honie’s requested remedy was to temporarily or permanently prohibit Utah officials from subjecting him to any lethal injection until they “take the reasonable and necessary steps to devise a new procedure … to carry out a lawful execution and produce a new execution protocol … so that Honie may be executed in a constitutional manner.” He proposed an alternative execution method, which would be lethal injection by pentobarbital. Honie claimed that ten states currently authorize the execution method and argues that “the number of recent executions involving pentobarbital clearly demonstrates that the drug is a feasible, available, and readily implemented alternative to Utah’s current 3-drug combination.”

On Friday, Utah officials requested the Third District to dismiss Honie’s suit after deciding to switch the experiential three-drug lethal injection to the pentobarbital injection. They based their request on the fact that they have ended the conduct Honie sought to discontinue. They also requested the suit to be dismissed because Honie’s requested remedies would be adverse to the public interest. They explain that:

after 25 years of review and failed challenges, the State and the families and friends of Honie’s victim have a significant interest in the end of litigation and the completion of a legal and constitutional sentence. Indeed, granting an injunction that would further delay the completion of Honie’s sentence is not in the public interest.