Inmates challenge firing squad policy, citing 13 disputed procedures
Kaelyn Blessinger
ADA COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) – Two of Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmates, Gerald Ross Pizzuto and Thomas Eugene Creech, are suing the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) over the state’s new firing squad policy, calling it arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion.
They are not challenging the constitutionality of the firing squad, but questioning the IDOC Director, Bree Derrick’s, approval of the execution policy.
They cite 13 different policies that they want to challenge:
Qualification to serve on the firing squad
Qualifications to serve on the medical team
Qualifications to serve on administration
Restrictions on witness access
Restrictions on attorney access
Restrictions on recording and documenting
The condemned person’s right to engage in spiritual activity
The condemned person’s sedation prior to execution
The ability of execution volunteers to withdraw from the execution process
The sourcing, inspection, and testing requirements for supplies and equipment prior to the execution
The role of emergency medical services
The director’s certification of the method of execution
The director’s discretion to amend any policies or procedures at will.
The lawsuit comes in response to the IDOC’s updated execution protocol that outlines the timeline and specific criteria for carrying out capital punishment, covering everything from appellate monitoring to the specific conditions of confinement.
RELATED: Idaho DOC releases detailed firing squad execution protocols ahead of July 1 transition
The lawsuit asks the court to set aside the policy and return it to the agency.
The shift to the firing squad
The state’s pivot toward the firing squad followed Creech’s high-profile botched execution.
In February 2024, state officials halted Creech’s execution after a three-member medical team tried eight separate times to establish an intravenous line for lethal injection. Following the incident, the Idaho Legislature backed House Bill 37 to establish the firing squad as a primary alternative.
Creech, 73, has spent half a century in prison. He was originally convicted of five murders across three states and is suspected of several more. He was sentenced to death for the 1981 beating death of fellow inmate David Dale Jensen, 22, while already serving a life term.
According to the Idaho Department of Corrections, there are currently eight people on Idaho’s death row. Among them are Creech, Pizzuto, and high-profile convicted murderer Chad Daybell.
The full, updated execution procedure document from the IDOC has been included below: