Capital punishment in Idaho
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment
is legal in the U.S. state
of Idaho
.
decision. The 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia
lifted an almost ten-year moratorium of executions in the United States
, but Idaho waited until 1994 to execute their first inmate.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
. Currently 15 inmates (including one woman) await execution on death row
, located in Boise
for men and in Pocatello
for women.
Idaho is one of the very few states where commutation of death sentences is determined solely by a Board on which the Governor of Idaho does not sit. Only two other states (Georgia
and Connecticut
) share the same system, while in Nebraska
, Utah
and Nevada
the Governor sits on the board.
Only one person has received a commutation of a death sentence since 1973 (Donald Paradis in April 1994). His sentence was later overturned and he was freed due to innocence .
Charles Fain was released in 2001 from death row after serving almost 18 years for a crime that he did not commit.
is the sole method of execution used by the State of Idaho. Between the reinstatement of capital punishment in Idaho and the state's adoption of lethal injection, firing squad was the default method, but it was never used. After lethal injection was introduced, firing squad was offered as an option, but on April 1, 2009, governor C.L.S "Butch" Otter signed into law legislation ending the practice. This law went into effect July 1, 2009. The only way that any inmate would be able to be executed by firing squad would be if lethal injection was found to be "impractical".
, 12 since. Idaho has never executed a woman and all executions were carried out by hanging
.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
is legal in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
.
Current development
Capital punishment was reinstated in Idaho on July 7, 1973, after the United States Supreme Court struck down all death penalty statutes across the country in 1972 Furman v. GeorgiaFurman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...
decision. The 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia, Proffitt v. Florida, Jurek v. Texas, Woodson v. North Carolina, and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 153 , reaffirmed the United States Supreme Court's acceptance of the use of the death penalty in the United States, upholding, in particular, the death sentence imposed on Troy Leon...
lifted an almost ten-year moratorium of executions in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but Idaho waited until 1994 to execute their first inmate.
Capital crimes
Three crimes in Idaho are punishable by death:- First-degree murder with aggravating factors
- Aggravated kidnapping
- Perjury causing execution of an innocent person
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
Sentencing and clemency
Sentencing is determined by juryJury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
. Currently 15 inmates (including one woman) await execution on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
, located in Boise
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
for men and in Pocatello
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock...
for women.
Idaho is one of the very few states where commutation of death sentences is determined solely by a Board on which the Governor of Idaho does not sit. Only two other states (Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
) share the same system, while in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
the Governor sits on the board.
Only one person has received a commutation of a death sentence since 1973 (Donald Paradis in April 1994). His sentence was later overturned and he was freed due to innocence .
Charles Fain was released in 2001 from death row after serving almost 18 years for a crime that he did not commit.
Methods of execution
Lethal injectionLethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
is the sole method of execution used by the State of Idaho. Between the reinstatement of capital punishment in Idaho and the state's adoption of lethal injection, firing squad was the default method, but it was never used. After lethal injection was introduced, firing squad was offered as an option, but on April 1, 2009, governor C.L.S "Butch" Otter signed into law legislation ending the practice. This law went into effect July 1, 2009. The only way that any inmate would be able to be executed by firing squad would be if lethal injection was found to be "impractical".
Individuals executed by the State of Idaho
Two inmates have been executed in Idaho after 1977. Keith Wells waived his appeals and asked that the execution be carried out.| Executed person | Date of execution | Method | Victims | Under Governor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Wells Keith Wells Keith Eugene Wells was convicted of the murders of John Justad and Brandi Rains. He was executed in 1994 at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution by the State of Idaho by lethal injection, only one year and nine months after having been sentenced to death... |
6 January 1994 | lethal injection Lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide... |
John Justad; Brandis Rains | Cecil D. Andrus Cecil D. Andrus Cecil Dale Andrus was an American politician who served as Governor of Idaho from 1971 to 1977, and again from 1987 to 1995; and in Washington as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981, during the Carter administration... |
| 2 | Paul Ezra Rhoades | 18 November 2011 | lethal injection Lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide... |
Susan Michelbacher and Stacy Dawn Baldwin | C.L. "Butch" Otter |
Historical
In pre-Furman period Idaho executed 26 men between 1864 and 1957. 14 of these execution were prior to StatehoodU.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
, 12 since. Idaho has never executed a woman and all executions were carried out by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
.
External links
- List of Idaho's pre-Furman executions
- Death Sentences. Idaho Department of Correction. Updated on 2011-06-12.
- Idaho execution chamber photo (used only once for Keith WellsKeith WellsKeith Eugene Wells was convicted of the murders of John Justad and Brandi Rains. He was executed in 1994 at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution by the State of Idaho by lethal injection, only one year and nine months after having been sentenced to death...
, volunteer)
