Idaho Department of Correction Renovating to Accommodate Firing Squad Executions

The Idaho Department of Correction is renovating the execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution near Kuna, according to building permits from the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses.

The change comes after the failed execution attempt of 74-year-old Thomas Creech on Feb. 28, in which the medical team could not establish an IV line to carry out his execution by lethal injection. The department called off his execution.

On Wednesday, IDOC spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic verified the work is happening in an area of the facility known as the F block, where IDOC carries out executions.

“In order to comply with (Idaho law), which requires us to have the ability to carry out an execution by firing squad, we have implemented a phased approach to retrofitting the F Block, our current execution chamber,” Kuzeta-Cerimagic wrote in an email to Idaho Reports.

“Phase one of the F Block retrofit included making modifications to the existing configurations and is nearing completion. We are currently in phase two of the retrofit, evaluating design and layout options for accommodating a firing squad.”

The building permits do not outline the renovation details, and Kuzeta-Cerimagic said she could not elaborate.

Idaho Reports filed a record request on Tuesday for copies of the renovation plans but did not receive an immediate response.

Idaho Department of Correction working on central-line facility, documents indicate

But other records hint at possible plans. In at least two pieces of recent litigation, attorneys for those on death row have brought up the potential of IDOC changing its policy to use a central vein to kill a person.

A central vein is a major vein in the body, usually in the chest, neck or groin. Access to a central vein requires the insertion of a catheter. A peripheral vein is closer to the skin’s surface, such as in the arm or hand, commonly used in things like blood draw or establishing an IV line on a patient. IDOC’s current execution procedure, last modified in 2021, did not allow the medical team to use a central vein or establish a catheter in the central vein on Creech during the last execution attempt.

In a Sept. 13 filing in pending federal lawsuit filed by Gerald Pizzuto Jr., another man on Idaho’s death row, Pizzuto asked IDOC for its newest execution procedures. On April 17, the complaint states Pizzuto, 68, was informed that IDOC was amending the execution procedure. Pizzuto’s lawsuit claims that as late as Sept. 3, IDOC indicated it was working on construction of the central-line facility, which was not yet complete “because certain equipment had not yet been delivered.”

Documents dated June 10 say when questioned, Idaho Department of Correction director Josh “Tewalt admits IDOC will use an appropriately licensed and credentialed volunteer to insert a central line. Defendant Tewalt further admits insertion of a central line is within that person’s scope of practice. So far, the volunteer who will place the central line has not been given a designation.”

“Our execution policy remains under review, and it will be made available to the public at a later time,” wrote Kuzeta-Cerimagic.

The statements made in litigation do not mean IDOC has formally changed its policy. IDOC policy does not require the department to host public meetings regarding a change in execution procedure. Instead, the decision is left to Tewalt.

During a House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee meeting on Feb. 29, while being questioned about Creech’s failed execution, legislators asked Tewalt about the use of a central vein.

“It’s a very different legal threshold that we have to establish where we are not practicing medicine with the intent to save a life,” Tewalt told legislators. “In fact, it’s the exact opposite.”

Alabama corrections used a central intravenous line in the past during executions by lethal injections where a peripheral line could not be established.

The state of Idaho does allow the use of the firing squad as an execution method, but does not yet have a complete facility constructed to carry out a death by firing squad.

There are no current death warrants for any of Idaho’s death row residents.

— This story was first published by Idaho Reports.

Source: bigcountrynewsconnection.com, Ruth Brown, September 24, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Facebook | Telegram | Contact Us

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog