Creech files for a stay of execution with the Idaho Supreme Court after receiving death warrant

BOISE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Thomas Creech, 73, Idaho’s longest serving death row inmate who was given his execution orders on Tuesday has filed a Motion for a Stay of Execution with the Idaho Supreme Court.

As we reported earlier this week, and according to the latest court documents posted on Idaho’s Court portal, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole granted a hearing on Creech’s commutation petition, which was denied on a 3-3 vote, with the seventh member not present due to undisclosed reasons.

The three commissioners who voted favorably wrote that a “change in law requiring that a death sentence be decided by a jury rather than a judge,” and they also noted the fact that Judge Newhouse – who was the judge that imposed the death sentence in 1983 “no longer believes that a sentence of death is appropriate for Creech’s conviction.

The motion states that Thomas Creech has a pending post-conviction appeal which is scheduled for oral arguments before the Idaho Supreme Court on February 5th, and that Creech is seeking a stay of execution until the Eighth Amendment claim has been heard by the court.

Under the U.S. Constitution, our Eighth Amendment right is simple terms provides three essential protections for those accused of a crime.

It prohibits excessive bail and fines, as well as cruel and unusual punishments.

Thomas Creech is scheduled for execution by lethal injection on the 28th of this month.