Thomas Creech v. Tim Richardson

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

THOMAS E. CREECH, No. 10-99015 Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. v. 1:99-cv-00224-BLW

TIM RICHARDSON, Warden, Respondent-Appellee. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho B. Lynn Winmill, Chief District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted September 20, 2021 Pasadena, California

Filed July 20, 2022

Before: William A. Fletcher, Jay S. Bybee, and Morgan Christen, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge W. Fletcher SUMMARY*

Habeas Corpus/Death Penalty

The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Thomas Eugene Creech’s second amended habeas corpus petition challenging his death sentence.

In 1981, while serving two life sentences for multiple convictions for first-degree murder, Creech beat a fellow inmate to death. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to death in Idaho state court. Creech obtained federal habeas relief with respect to his sentence, and was resentenced to death in 1995. In a second petition, Creech thereafter unsuccessfully sought federal habeas relief in the district…