Idaho Supreme Court dismisses Creech’s stay of execution appeal

BOISE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Idaho Supreme Court dismissed Idaho death row inmate Thomas Creech’s appeal in their ruling on Friday and sided with the lower court’s prior rulings.

Idaho Supreme Court Justice G. Richard Bevan framed the written opinion around the two core questions that attorneys for the 70-year-old inmate had put before the bench as their basis for requesting the stay of execution on Monday.

The first question, did the district court err by dismissing Creech’s petition as untimely? It was the opinion of the five-judge panel, that the lower court did not err in its ruling, stating that his appeal for post-conviction relief was not filed in a timely matter according to the Idaho Constitution.

Then there was appeal that Creech received ineffective post-conviction legal counsel when he was given the death sentence after being found guilty of first-degree murder in 1983, by a judge and not a jury.

His attorneys argued on Monday that Creech’s death sentence should be thrown out because it was handed down by a judge, and not a jury.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled back in 2002 that only juries could impose a death sentence, again, the Idaho Supreme Court rejected this claim because it was not filed in a timely manner.

The written summary states that since the opinion was issued more than fourteen days before February 28th, there is no need to stay the execution date set forth.

His execution by lethal injection was ordered by the Court and will be carried out by the Idaho Department of Corrections on February 28th and officials with the IDOC say that they do have the drugs necessary to carry out the order.

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