(DOWNLOAD) "State Idaho v. Thomas Eugene Creech" by Supreme Court of Idaho No. 12224 * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

eBook details

Title: State Idaho v. Thomas Eugene Creech
Author : Supreme Court of Idaho No. 12224
Release Date : January 11, 1979
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 58 KB

Description

Defendant-appellant Thomas Eugene Creech was convicted of two counts of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to death. He appeals alleging that his conviction and sentence must be set aside because (1) Idaho's mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional; (2) the trial court refused to permit him to waive his right to a jury trial; and (3) the trial court improperly dismissed jurors for cause. We affirm appellant's judgment of conviction, but set aside his sentence and remand the case for resentencing. The trial court sentenced appellant pursuant to a statute which made death the mandatory penalty for first degree murder. Ch. 276, § 2, 1973 Idaho Sess. Laws 588. Subsequent to appellant's sentencing, the United States Supreme Court decided Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 (1976), which held unconstitutional such mandatory death penalties. The statute under which appellant was sentenced is virtually identical to the North Carolina statute held unconstitutional in Woodson. As to Creech's assignment of error concerning the death penalty, for the reasons expressed in the companion case of State of Idaho v. Lindquist, 589 P.2d 101, released today, the judgment of conviction of the defendant-appellant Creech is affirmed, but the sentence of death imposed by the trial court is set aside and the cause remanded to the district court for resentencing.