Idaho Amends Lethal Injection Execution Protocol and Sets Second Execution Date for Thomas Creech

On October 15, 2024, the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) amended its execution protocol and facilities to enable staff to place a central intravenous line, if necessary, to deliver lethal injection drugs to a prisoner. IDOC now has a new execution preparation room in which venous access would be established prior to transferring the prisoner to the execution chamber. This change, and accompanying prison renovations this past summer, came after the February 28, 2024 failed execution of the state’s oldest death row prisoner, Thomas Creech, whose execution was halted after correctional staff failed to set intravenous lines after an hour of effort and eight attempts. A day after the execution protocol was modified, Idaho issued a warrant scheduling Mr. Creech’s second execution date for November 13, 2024. 

“Idaho has now made itself the first state in the history of the country to try to use lethal injection a second time on the same inmate after failing the first time,” said Deborah Czuba, one of Mr. Creech’s attorneys and supervising attorney for the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defenders of Idaho in a written statement. “The state is sacrificing common decency and humanity in its haste for an execution. Mr. Creech’s legal team is fighting to save Mr. Creech’s life on many fronts. Mr. Creech has spent more than 50 years in prison and is now suffering from significant mental health issues because of the trauma he was subjected to when the state failed to execute him. We hope the courts will recognize the cruel and unusual level of punishment that this remorseful and harmless old man has already been through, and stop a needless execution.” The statement also highlighted the lack of public information or official review following the first failed execution attempt and criticized the state’s plan to use “virtually the same process and team of executioners” in their second attempt. His lawyers are also challenging the second attempt to execute Mr. Creech as unconstitutional.  

According to IDOC’s press release on its updated execution protocols, when Mr. Creech’s execution team was unable to establish peripheral IV access it did not have an “appropriate environment” to establish a central line as protocol then dictated. Under the modified protocol, a prisoner would first be taken to the execution preparation room, where a medical team would determine if peripheral IV access is possible. If not, “a qualified physician will establish a central line.” Execution witnesses would be able to observe the entirety of this process via a live, closed-circuit video and audio feed. Once the prisoner’s IV access has been established, he would be transferred to the execution chamber.   

“Our previous protocols proved effective at protecting the integrity of the process and ensuring adherence with 8th amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment,” said IDOC Director Josh Tewalt. “These changes enhance the State’s ability to carry out an execution by lethal injection by ensuring we have the infrastructure in place to establish IV access.” 

Summer renovations to the F Block unit at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution to create an execution preparation room cost an estimated $313,915, according to IDOC public information officer Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic. The renovations included imaging, design, and engineering outlined in phase one construction to the unit but do not include phase two construction costs, including the creation of a secured facility for executions via firing squad, which was adopted as an alternate execution method in 2023. In total, phase two construction costs are estimated at $952,589, as reported by the Idaho Capital Sun. 

If Mr. Creech’s execution is carried out, it would mark Idaho’s first execution in 12 years. There are 8 other prisoners on Idaho’s death row.