BOISE, Idaho – As Idaho lawmakers discuss the future of the firing squad to carry out executions in the Gem State, the fates of two men are hanging in the balance in federal court.
Gerald Pizzuto and Thomas Creech are two of the nine people on Idaho death row.
A federal judge put a hold on Creech’s execution while the court works through his appeals. The state previously tried to execute Creech but could not establish an IV line.
Gerald Pizzuto’s execution is also on hold as he appealed to federal court. Pizzuto and Creech have both argued that the state does not have the chemicals and procedures needed to carry out lethal injection.
Right now, Idaho law says the state can use the firing squad if those chemicals are not available. However, the state is still in the process of renovating part of a prison in Boise to carry out executions by firing squad.
In this year’s legislative session, lawmakers are considering a bill that would make Idaho the only state to use death by firing squad as the primary method of execution.
State v. Gerald Pizzuto
Gerald Pizzuto has been on Idaho death row since 1986. He was convicted of beating two people to death in Idaho County.
The state had to twice call off a scheduled execution in 2023 because it could not obtain the chemicals for lethal injection.
Pizzuto took his fight to federal court and a federal judge granted a stay of execution.
In January, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office asked a judge to rule in the state’s favor saying, “The State now has the chemicals necessary to execute [him].”
The defense disputes that, saying in a filing on Friday that the chemicals the state has obtained are expired and were expired at the time the state made that declaration in January.
State v. Thomas Creech
Thomas Creech is the longest-serving inmate on Idaho death row. He was first sentenced to death for two murders in 1974. The sentence was reduced, but then Creech killed someone in prison and was again sentenced to death.
The state tried to execute Creech in February 2024, but after an hour, couldn’t establish a central line through which to administer the chemicals.
After that, Creech pleaded with judges in state and federal court, saying to keep him on death row constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
That case is on hold pending a judge’s decision.
The future of the death penalty in Idaho
Idaho has carried out three executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1973.
The last execution was in 2012.
This week, an Idaho senate committee advanced House Bill 37, which would make the firing squad the primary form of execution.
If passed, it would not go into effect until 2026.
The death penalty has received more attention in Idaho in recent years, with the botched execution of Creech and the possibility of the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2023.
Kohberger’s trial is scheduled to begin late this summer in Boise.
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