Capital punishment in Idaho

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Idaho.

When the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous.

In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial).[1]

The power of clemency belongs to the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole.[2]

Lethal injection is the only method of execution authorized by statutes.[3]

Men on death row are incarcerated in Idaho Maximum Security Institution near Kuna, and women in Pocatello Women's Correctional Center.[4]

Capital crimes

First-degree murder can be punished with death if it involves any of the following aggravating factors:[5]

  1. The defendant was previously convicted of another murder;
  2. At the time the murder was committed, the defendant also committed another murder;
  3. The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to many persons;
  4. The murder was committed for remuneration or the promise of remuneration, or the defendant employed another to commit the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
  5. The murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity;
  6. By the murder, or circumstances surrounding its commission, the defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life;
  7. The murder was committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, kidnapping or mayhem and the defendant killed, intended to kill, or acted with reckless indifference to human life;
  8. The murder was committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, an infamous crime against nature, lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor, sexual abuse of a child under 16 years of age, ritualized abuse of a child, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual battery of a minor child 16 or 17 years of age, or forcible sexual penetration by use of a foreign object, and the defendant killed, intended to kill, or acted with reckless indifference to human life;
  9. The defendant, by his conduct, whether such conduct was before, during or after the commission of the murder at hand, has exhibited a propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society;
  10. The murder was committed against a former or present peace officer, executive officer, officer of the court, judicial officer or prosecuting attorney because of the exercise of official duty or because of the victim's former or present official status;
  11. The murder was committed against a witness or potential witness in a criminal or civil legal proceeding because of such proceeding.

Under Title 18, Chapter 45, Section 05 (4505) of the Idaho Statutes, the death penalty can also applied for kidnapping in the first-degree, provided that the kidnapping involved any of the following aggravating factors:

  • The victim of the kidnapping was subjected by the kidnapper or those acting in concert with him to torture, maiming or the intentional infliction of grievous mental or physical injury;
  • The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to any person, including the kidnapped;
  • The kidnapping was committed for remuneration or the promise of remuneration or the defendant employed another to commit the kidnapping for remuneration or the promise of remuneration;
  • The kidnapping was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity; or
  • The kidnapping was committed for the purpose of murdering or maiming a witness or potential witness in a judicial proceeding.

Idaho statutes provides the death penalty for perjury causing execution of an innocent person as well. The death penalty can be applied in any case for perjury causing execution of an innocent person and no aggravated factors have to be proven in order for the death penalty to be given.

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.[6] There were no executions between 1957 and 1972,[7] 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,[8] 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[9] 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.[10]

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See also

References
  1. Idaho Statutes § 19-2515
  2. "Section 7. THE PARDONING POWER". law.justia.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  3. "Section 19-2716 - INFLICTION OF DEATH PENALTY". law.justia.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  4. "Death Row | Idaho Department of Correction". Idoc.idaho.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  5. Idaho statutes § 19-2515
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2008-04-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  7. "First Idaho Execution in 36 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2015-06-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Deborah W. Denno. "Articles : Lethal Injection Chaos Post-Baze" (PDF). Georgetownlawjournal.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  10. "Methods of Execution | Death Penalty Information Center". Deathpenaltyinfo.org. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
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