08 November 2024 :
November 6, 2024 - Idaho. After surviving a botched execution attempt in February, Thomas Creech was scheduled for execution a second time on November 13 in Idaho. On Wednesday, November 6, a federal district court issued a stay of execution to allow more time to consider Mr. Creech’s legal claims. The Idaho Department of Corrections announced that “execution preparations have been suspended” and the execution warrant will expire.
Mr. Creech, 74, is the longest-serving prisoner on Idaho’s death row. On February 28, the execution team tried eight times to set an IV line to administer lethal injection drugs to Mr. Creech, inserting needles into his hands, feet, and legs, but each time his veins collapsed. The execution—the first the state had attempted in 12 years—was eventually called off after over an hour. Mr. Creech’s attorneys had warned that his age and medical conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and edema, could impact circulation and vein quality. “Mr. Creech has spent more than 50 years in prison and is now suffering from significant mental health issues because of the trauma he was subjected to when the state failed to execute him,” said Deborah Czuba, his attorney. “We hope the courts will recognize the cruel and unusual level of punishment that this remorseful and harmless old man has already been through, and stop a needless execution.”
Yet the state scheduled Mr. Creech for lethal injection a second time and amended its execution protocol to allow officials to use a more invasive IV procedure. Under the new protocol, the execution team may access larger veins in the neck, groin, chest, or upper arm to run a catheter to a person’s heart. The state spent over $300,000 this summer to build a new execution preparation room, and nearly a million dollars in total to create a secured facility for executions by firing squad, which Idaho legislators authorized as an alternative execution method in 2023. The state spent an additional $100,000 to purchase lethal injection drugs for the new attempt. Yesterday (November 5) the Idaho Supreme Court held that a 2nd execution attempt of Thomas Creech does not amount to cruel and unusual punishment or imposing multiple punishments for the same offense.
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/idaho-federal-judge-grants-stay-of-execution-for-thomas-creech-defense-asks-court-to-bar-death-penalty-for-bryan-kohberger
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/law-justice/2024-11-05/idaho-supreme-court-execute-creech-death-penalty
