BOISE, Idaho – Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate is trying several paths to stop his execution, scheduled for mid-November.
The state has issued a death warrant for Thomas Eugene Creech. He’s scheduled to die on November 13.
Creech is the only Idaho inmate to survive an execution attempt. Prison officials tried for an hour last February to establish an IV through which to insert lethal injection drugs.
That’s one of the reasons Creech says his life should be spared, arguing that trying a second time to execute him constitutes legal double jeopardy.
Creech was convicted of two murders in Idaho in 1974 and sentenced to death. That sentence was later reduced to life in prison.
While in prison, he murdered a fellow inmate named David Jensen. It’s that murder for which Creech is now sentenced to die. He’s also a suspect in several murders for which he has not been charged.
Creech is pursuing two paths to stop the execution, one through the federal court system and the other through the Idaho Supreme Court.
He filed a writ of habeus corpus in federal court last week. In it, his attorneys argue that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to carry out his death sentence after his botched execution.
They describe the anguish of the botched execution and say Creech has suffered psychological effects in the months since.
Since that happened, Idaho has announced a change to its lethal injection procedures.
In the court filing, Creech’s attorneys say the state has issued 13 death warrants for their client, dating back to 1976.
Attorneys also argue about double jeopardy, saying the law prohibits “multiple punishments for the same offense.”
While the federal court considers that request, Creech has filed a petition with the Idaho Supreme Court, appealing a judge’s recent decision to halt the execution.
Attorneys also filed a request for an emergency stay of the execution so that his appeal could be fully developed and finalized.
The state responded to those motions, saying the court does not have the authority to issue a stay of execution.
The state says Creech’s arguments ignore the “40-plus-year history since murdering David [Jensen] in 1981 and the unnecessary delays therefrom.”
The attorney for the state says “unnecessary delay substantially injures the public’s trust in the criminal justice system.”
The Idaho Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on November 4th.
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