Capital punishment in Idaho
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Contents
History and methods
Idaho executed 14 men, all by hanging, before its admission to the Union in 1890. Another 12 men were executed, again by hanging, between that time and 1957. Idaho has never executed a woman.[1] There were no executions between 1957 and 1972,[2] when the United States Supreme Court decision Furman v. Georgia struck down all death penalty statutes across the United States and created an effective moratorium on executions.
Idaho passed new statutes on July 7, 1973,[3] and the 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia lifted the moratorium. Firing squad was the state's sole method of execution between that time and the 1978 adoption of lethal injection[4] as a second option. In 2009 the firing squad option was removed, Idaho having never executed an inmate by that method. This left lethal injection as the sole execution method.[5]
Sentencing, death row, and clemency
Three crimes in Idaho are punishable by death:[6]
- First-degree murder with aggravating factors
- Aggravated kidnapping
- Perjury causing execution of an innocent person
Sentencing is determined by jury. As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime[7] or mentally retarded[8] are constitutionally precluded from being executed. Men on death row are incarcerated in Boise, and women in Pocatello.[9] Idaho is one of the very few states where commutation of death sentences is determined solely by a Board on which the Governor does not sit.[10] Only two other states (Georgia and Connecticut) share the same system, while in Nebraska, Utah, and Nevada the Governor sits on the board.[10]
Idaho death row inmates executed or released since 1976
| Name | Date of Execution | Method | Victim(s) | Governor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Wells | January 6, 1994 | lethal injection | John Justad and Brandis Rains | Cecil D. Andrus | Waived his appeals and asked that the execution be carried out. |
| Donald Paradis | N/A, sentence commuted in 1996. Conviction later vacated.[10] | Phil Batt | The only commutation of a death sentence in Idaho since 1973.[10] | ||
| Charles Fain | N/A, exonerated and released in 2001.[11] | Dirk Kempthorne | Served almost 18 years before exoneration.[11] | ||
| Paul Ezra Rhoades | November 18, 2011 | lethal injection | Susan Michelbacher and Stacy Dawn Baldwin | C.L. "Butch" Otter | |
| Richard Albert Leavitt | June 12, 2012 | lethal injection | Danette Jean Elg | ||
See also
- List of death row inmates in Idaho
- List of wrongful convictions in the United States
- List of exonerated death row inmates
References
- ↑ Regional Studies at the Wayback Machine (archived October 16, 2009)
- ↑ First Idaho Execution in 36 Years
- ↑ Death Penalty Information Center
- ↑ http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/2014/06/Denno-Lethal.pdf
- ↑ http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution#id
- ↑ Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty
- ↑ Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
- ↑ Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
- ↑ Death Row
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Clemency
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Death Row Inmate Is Freed After DNA Test Clears Him
External links
- List of Idaho's pre-1972 executions
- Idaho execution chamber photo (used only once, for Keith Wells)
