High-Interest Proceedings

Capital Crimes

First-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping are crimes that carry the death penalty as a possible punishment. If the prosecutor intends to seek the death penalty, he must file a written notice of intent to do so with the District Court within sixty days after the defendant has entered a plea unless the court extends this time for good cause. See Idaho Code § 18-4004A. There also are special requirements for court-appointed attorneys in death penalty cases. See Idaho Criminal Rule 44.3.

The court must hold a hearing during which attorneys for the state and defendant present evidence regarding aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The jury decides whether the defendant should receive the death penalty, unless both the state and the defendant waive the jury; in that case, the judge decides. Idaho law requires that the death penalty cannot be imposed unless the jury or judge finds at least one aggravating circumstance attending the crime. These are described in Idaho Code § 19-2515 and include a previous conviction for murder, multiple murders at the same time, knowingly creating a great risk of death to many persons in the commission of the murder, murder for hire, and an "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" murder. If the jury or judge finds that there is at least one statutory aggravating circumstance and no mitigating circumstances that would make the imposition of the death penalty unjust, then the defendant is sentenced to death.

When a defendant is sentenced to death, a number of requirements automatically come into play. The sentence is stayed pending appeals and reviews, and the District Court must immediately appoint an attorney, other than the lawyer who represented the defendant before the death penalty was imposed, for the purpose of seeking post-conviction relief from the court.

Under Idaho law Idaho Code § 19-2827 the state Supreme Court automatically reviews the imposition of the death penalty in a District Court case. The court must consider whether the sentence was lawfully imposed (for example, whether the evidence supports the finding that an aggravating circumstance warranting the death penalty was present). Attorneys for the defendant and the state may submit briefs on the issue and present oral arguments before the court. The court may affirm the sentence or set it aside and remand the case for re-sentencing. Additional appeals to the Idaho and United States Supreme Courts may be made, and as a last resort, the governor of the state may be petitioned to delay or halt the death penalty process. An application for commutation of a death sentence must be made to the Commission of Pardons and Parole, which makes a recommendation to the governor. The governor makes the final decision on commutations in death penalty cases. See Idaho Code § 20-240.

The death penalty in Idaho is by law administered by lethal injection. See Idaho Code § 19-2716.