BOISE, Idaho — In late February, Idaho failed to execute its longest-serving death row inmate, Thomas Creech, after medical staff were unable to establish a vein to insert the IV line for the lethal injection, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.
Creech has spent about five decades behind bars for murder and has avoided execution a dozen times. As a result of the failed execution, his death warrant expired.
The execution attempt garnered national attention and provoked many questions about the death penalty: What happens after a failed execution? Will the state seek another warrant? Will declining public opinion impact their decision?
The Ada County Prosecutor's Office has yet to share its plans for Creech. They could go to trial court and ask for another warrant. However, a spokesperson could not comment because of "pending litigation."
Creech will remain on death row until he dies of natural causes or is executed. Regardless of what happens, national experts KTVB talked to said the failed execution reflects a lot of the problems with the capital punishment system nationwide.
"Idaho has had problems at all different levels in carrying out capital punishment," said Robert Dunham, Death Penalty Policy Project director. "So, it's up to the legislature and the governor to decide what to do. But the public is losing faith in this policy, and that's something that they should take seriously."
Currently, there are eight people on death row in Idaho, including Creech: Azad Abdullah, Timothy Dunlap, James Hairston, Erick Hall, Gerald Pizzuto, Jonathan Renfro and Robin Row. Most have been there for more than two decades, similar to death row inmates in other states.
More than half of all prisoners currently sentenced to death in the U.S. have been on death row for more than 18 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Center Executive Director Robin Maher said it takes a long time to work through appeals, which are important to ensure the ultimate injustice is not committed — executing someone innocent.
Dunham also said in a lot of cases, people on death row have not been given fair trials.
"And so, their convictions or death sentences have been overturned once, twice, sometimes as many as five times," he added. "Mr. Creech's case is an example of this."
The people on death row are reflective of a different era when the death penalty was more popular, Maher said. Now, 50% of the population does not believe their government can use the death penalty fairly.
"We've seen a downward trend toward the number of new death sentences, which is reflective of juries wanting to sentence people to death," she said. "But more than that, we're seeing isolated use of the death penalty in just a few places around the country. And those are decisions that are largely made by elected prosecutors and not by the American public."
The death penalty is legal in 27 states, but six of those have paused executions because of executive action. Right now, high-interest cases where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty keep drawing attention to the Gem State.
Those include Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of stabbing to death four University of Idaho students in fall 2022; Jeremy Best, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his wife and their unborn child, and Chad Daybell, whose triple murder trial is currently underway in Ada County.
In Idaho, there are no active death warrants, nor is there an "order" to who is up for execution next. It just depends on the inmates' individual cases, an IDOC spokesperson said.
Dunham said IDOC did the right thing calling off Creech's execution when they did. He called the decision "human" and "appropriate," especially when compared to recent failed executions in Alabama.
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