By Melissa Davlin, Idaho Reports
The Idaho Supreme Court has rejected two appeals from Thomas Creech, putting Idaho’s longest serving death row inmate further down the path to his scheduled Feb. 28th execution.
On Monday, the court heard the two back-to-back arguments from Creech’s defense team; One focused on ineffective counsel, and one on a changed death penalty sentencing statute. Creech was last sentenced in 1995 by a single judge. Today, a jury must be in unanimous agreement in determining whether a crime is death penalty eligible, a change that came after Creech’s sentencing.
In its opinions, authored by Chief Justice Richard Bevan, the court said Creech’s team filed its appeals outside of the time limits allowed in statute.
In the ineffective counsel case, the court also rejected arguments that centered around a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Shinn v Ramirez. Creech had already unsuccessfully appealed his sentence based on an ineffective counsel claim starting in the mid-90s. Creech’s attorneys said that the Shinn opinion changed the legal landscape on Sixth Amendment cases, and therefore their defense strategy.
The court dismissed those arguments, saying state statute already outlined the method for appeals regarding concerns of ineffective representation in trial, regardless of the federal decision.
“We decline to adopt Creech’s argument to excuse his untimely (ineffective counsel) claim because that claim was or reasonably should have been known when he filed his first petition,” Bevan wrote.
Creech, 73, has been on death row since 1983 for the beating death of fellow inmate David Jensen in 1981. Jensen’s death marked the fifth murder conviction on Creech’s record, though Creech has previously claimed to have killed several other people. Last month, the Commission of Pardons and Parole voted 3-3 against recommending commuting his sentence.
As of last week, the Idaho Department of Correction still had the lethal injection chemicals it had previously obtained for Creech’s first scheduled execution date in October 2023.
Melissa Davlin | Host, Lead Producer
Melissa Davlin is the lead producer and host of Idaho Reports. She has covered the Idaho Legislature since 2012. She also produces for Outdoor Idaho and Idaho Experience. Melissa serves as the president of the Idaho Press Club. She has won multiple awards for her work, including a regional Emmy for her documentary on Chinese immigration in Idaho, Idaho Press Club broadcast reporter of the year for 2015 and 2019, the Idaho Press Club First Amendment Award, the University of Idaho Silver and Gold Alumni Award, and the 2019 Boise State University Enhancing Public Discourse award. She lives in Boise with her husband and children.