Federal judge temporarily halts Idaho’s plan to try a second time to execute a man on death row

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily halted the planned execution of an Idaho man on death row whose first lethal injection attempt was botched earlier this year. Thomas Eugene Creech was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Nov. 13. The state first tried and failed to execute Creech in February. Execution team members tried eight locations in Creech’s arms and legs but could not find a viable vein to deliver the lethal drug. U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow issued the stay this week to allow the court enough time to consider Creech’s claims that prosecutors acted improperly during his clemency hearing. Creech’s defense team also has other legal cases underway seeking to stop him from being put to death.