Entries tagged with “Gerald Pizzuto, Jr.”
Executions
Apr 08, 2026
New Idaho Law Shields Execution Procedures from Judicial Review and Public Scrutiny
Idaho law empowers state courts to review and block certain government actions, such as those imposed without notice or public input, as well as policy changes that are “arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.” However, a bill signed March 31 by Gov. Brad Little (R) exempts execution procedures from these oversight requirements. If the prison director decides to alter the execution protocol, death-sentenced prisoners will only be able to challenge those changes on constitutional…
Research
Jan 25, 2024
Clemency Request for 73-Year-Old Death Row Prisoner in Idaho Has Support of Trial Judge and Prosecutor, Defense Presents Evidence of a Changed Man
On January 19, 2024, the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole held a clemency hearing for Thomas Creech, who has been on death row for nearly 44 years. The Commission will now decide whether to recommend to Governor Brad Little that Mr. Creech’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole. By law, the governor is not required to follow the Commission’s recommendation. Mr. Creech faced a scheduled execution date in November 2023, but the Commission stayed the execution so that…
Executions
Upcoming Executions
,Dec 02, 2022
Saying It Can’t Obtain Lethal-Injection Drugs, Idaho Calls Off December Execution of Gerald Pizzuto
Idaho has called off the scheduled December 15, 2022 execution of terminally death-row prisoner Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. (pictured), saying it has not been able to obtain the drugs it needs to put him to death. Instead, prosecutors said, the state would allow the death warrant to expire. Pizzuto has been in hospice care confined to a wheelchair, suffering from late-stage bladder cancer, chronic heart and coronary artery disease, coronary obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Type 2 diabetes…
Research
Aug 25, 2022
Idaho Supreme Court Rules Governor Has Authority to Reject Clemency Recommendation, Reinstates Death Penalty for Gerald Pizzuto
The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s constitution permits a governor to reject clemency recommendations made by the Commission of Pardons and Parole, reversing a lower court’s decision that had blocked the state from executing terminally ill prisoner Gerald Pizzuto (pictured). The ruling may allow Idaho to carry out its first execution in more than a decade. The August 23, 2022 decision effectively reinstates Pizzuto’s death sentence, which the Commission of Pardons and Parole…
Research
Feb 07, 2022
Idaho Court Rules Governor Lacked Authority to Reject Commutation of Gerald Pizzuto’s Death Sentence
An Idaho trial court judge has resentenced Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. to life without parole, ruling that Governor Brad Little lacked legal authority to reject the state Commission of Pardons and Parole’s recommendation of clemency for the 65-year-old terminally ill death-row prisoner. In a nineteen-page decision, issued February 4, 2022, Second Judicial District Court Judge Jay Gaskill held that the Idaho state constitution vests exclusive power over commutation decisions in the Commission of…
Executions
Jan 21, 2022
Investigative Report: Idaho Records Reveal State’s Efforts to Conceal Ghost Purchase of Execution Drugs and Out-of-State Cash Payment to Pharmacy With Dubious Regulatory History
Idaho prison officials engaged in cloak and dagger practices, including twice sending state employees across state lines to make cash purchases of controlled substances intended for executions, actively concealing the intended use of the drugs, manipulating state records to cover up their activities, and acting in bad faith to stonewall public records requests for execution-related information, a joint investigative report by the Idaho Statesman and the Idaho Capital Sun has revealed. Records…
Issues
Federal Death Penalty
,Jan 07, 2022
“Random and Unjust,” “Barbaric” and “Ineffective”: Editorials Call for End to Death Penalty
As 2021 came to a close, editorial writers in four death penalty states called for legislative and executive action to end capital punishment or further limit its use. Editorial boards for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Idaho Statesman took note that as the death penalty declines in usage and public support, it remains arbitrary and inhumane in its application and continues to place innocent lives at risk. Additionally, recently retired Los Angeles Times…
Research
Jan 04, 2022
Hospice-Bound Death-Row Prisoner Challenges Idaho Governor’s Authority to Reject Pardons Commission Commutation Decision
A hospice-bound death-row prisoner has filed a motion in Idaho state court challenging the authority of Governor Brad Little to reject a pardons commission recommendation that his death sentence be commuted to life without possibility of parole. Gerald Pizzuto, Jr., who was sentenced to death in 1986 for the killings of two gold prospectors, suffers from advanced bladder cancer, chronic heart and coronary artery disease, coronary obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Type 2 diabetes with…
Research
Nov 30, 2021
Idaho Pardons Commission Holds Clemency Hearing for Terminally Ill Death-Row Prisoner in Hospice Care
The sister of a terminally ill death-row prisoner who has been in hospice care since 2019 has asked the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole to recommend that he be granted clemency so he can “die on God’s time.” In emotional testimony presented virtually on November 30, 2021, Angelinna Pizzuto told the parole board members that her brother, Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. (pictured), had been repeatedly beaten and raped by their stepfather throughout his childhood, and that social service agencies had…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,May 21, 2021
Court Halts Execution of Terminally Ill Idaho Death-Row Prisoner
An Idaho trial court has stayed the scheduled June 2, 2021 execution of Gerald Pizzuto, Jr. (pictured), halting state prosecutors’ efforts to put the hospice-bound terminally ill prisoner to death before his stage‑4 cancer can take his life and state officials can consider his petition for clemency. On April 9, Pizzuto’s lawyers filed a clemency petition, seeking to commute his sentence to life without possibility parole based upon his terminal illness, brain damage from head injuries…