Published on: Friday, October 18, 2024

The unanimous Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals late Wednesday removed an Idaho federal district judge from a case brought by death row prisoner Thomas Creech over her unwillingness to recuse herself based on a longstanding friendship with Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts, who is named in Creech’s lawsuit (article available here).

Creech argued that prosecutors under Bennetts' supervision presented evidence that had potentially been tampered with to falsely claim the murder weapon bore Creech's name to rebut his claims of remorse.

In May, his lawyers asked the judge who was appointed to the federal bench in 2023, to recuse herself, citing a friendship she and the prosecution forged while clerking for the same Ninth Circuit judge in 1993.

Bennetts, for example, was one of two speakers at Brailsford’s swearing in as a judge on the Idaho Court of Appeals in 2019, the federal appeals court filing read. At that event, Brailsford called Bennetts a “dear friend” and labeled them “kindred spirits.” 

“The facts in this case leave us firmly convinced that the district court’s failure to recuse herself was based on a clear error of law,” read the opinion. “We hold that Judge Brailsford committed a clear abuse of discretion by failing to recuse herself.”

Creech, 74, at almost a half-century of incarceration, is Idaho’s longest-serving death row prisoner. His previous execution was botched, and new execution date has been scheduled for November 13, 2024.