BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court will hear an appeal from the state Monday, after the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole voted in December 2021 in favor of recommending to Gov. Brad Little that Gerald Pizzuto's death penalty sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole.
Pizzuto was originally given the death penalty for beating 58-year-old Berta Herndon and her 37-year-old nephew Del Herndon to death with a hammer in 1985.
Last year, his lawyers asked the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole to spare his life, arguing that the inmate was wheelchair-bound, terminally ill and no longer a threat to anyone.
In their November 2021 meeting, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole said the governor would have the final call on whether to adopt the recommendation. Little denied the clemency request one month later, leaving Pizzuto's death sentence in place.
"The severity of Pizzuto's brutal, senseless, and indiscriminate killing spree strongly warrants against commutation. Therefore, I respectfully deny the Commission's recommendation so that the lawful and just sentences for the murders of Berta and Del can be fully carried out as ordered by the court," Little wrote then.
After Little rejected the commission's recommendation to deduce Pizzuto's death sentences, Pizzuto's lawyers filed a lawsuit in Idaho County.
In February, Second District Court Judge Jay Gaskill wrote that the Idaho Constitution does not give the governor the power to make that decision.
Gaskill ruled that a 1986 amendment to the Constitution gives governors the power to grant "respites and reprieves," while the sole power to grant a pardon or commutation lies with the Idaho Probation and Parole Board.
The judge wrote that he was unconvinced that language in the amendment meant the Legislature "can usurp the Commission’s power and shift their decision-making authority to the governor."
"The Commission voted 4-3 to commute Pizzuto’s sentences from death to life in prison without parole. Article IV, Section of the Idaho Constitution does not provide the governor of the state with the power of commutation, therefore, the current state of Pizzuto‘s death sentences — in light of the Commission’s decision that the sentences should be commuted to life in prison without parole — are illegal," Gaskill wrote.
The judge granted Pizzuto's appeal, effectively halting his execution and reducing his sentence to life without parole.
Following the ruling to spare Pizzuto from the death penalty, the State of Idaho appealed the decision to the Idaho Supreme Court. In May, Gov. Little's office filed "an amicus brief" supporting the state's position that the governor may reject the the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole's recommendation to reduce the sentence.
"I am committed to the rule of law and have followed the Idaho Constitution and Idaho Code in denying a reduced sentence for Gerald Pizzuto's cruel and calculated murders of Berta and Del Herndon in Idaho County," Little wrote in a statement Friday. "The severity of Pizzuto's brutal, senseless, and indiscriminate killing spree strongly warrants against a reduced sentence. The state must have the ability to fully carry out the just sentences as ordered by the court in this case."
The Idaho Supreme Court will hear arguments in the State of Idaho's appeal Monday.
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