Creech

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts and Proceedings

2 In the forty-odd years that Creech has been on death row, both we and the

Idaho Supreme Court have thoroughly documented the facts of Creech’s offenses

and his journey through the criminal justice system. See, e.g., State v. Creech

(“Creech I”), 670 P.2d 463, 465–67 (Idaho 1983); State v. Creech (“Creech II”), 710

P.2d 502, 502–04 (Idaho 1985); Creech v. Arave (“Creech III”), 947 F.2d 873, 875–

76, 878–79, 881–85, 888 (9th Cir. 1991); Arave v. Creech (“Creech IV”), 507 U.S.

463, 465–70 (1993); State v. Creech (“Creech V”), 966 P.2d 1, 4–6 (Idaho 1998);

Creech v. Richardson (“Creech VI”), 59 F.4th 372, 376–82 (9th Cir. 2023), cert.

denied, 144 S. Ct. 291 (2023); Creech v. Idaho Comm’n of Pardons & Parole

(“Creech VII”), 94 F.4th 851, 853–54 (9th Cir. 2024) (per curiam), cert. denied, 144

S. Ct. 1027 (2024). We therefore recite only those facts relevant to Creech’s pending

mandamus petition.

In 1981, and while serving life sentences without parole for multiple earlier

murders, Creech beat to death a fellow inmate—David Dale Jensen—with a sock

full of batteries. Creech VII, 94 F.4th at 854; Creech VI, 59 F.4th at…