Creech

FILED

FOR PUBLICATION

FEB 23 2024

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

THOMAS E. CREECH, No. 24-275

Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. 1:23-cv-00463-AKB

v.

OPINION

TIM RICHARDSON, Warden,

Respondent-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho Brailsford, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted February 22, 2024 San Francisco, California

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

PER CURIAM:

Petitioner-Appellant Thomas Eugene Creech, a death row inmate in Idaho,

appeals the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition for a writ of habeas corpus. His

execution is currently scheduled for February 28, 2024, less than a week from now.

In 1981, while serving two life sentences for first-degree murder, Creech

killed a fellow prisoner and was sentenced to death. The circumstances of the killing and Creech’s previous post-conviction proceedings are discussed in our

opinion in Creech v. Richardson, 59 F.4th 372 (9th Cir. 2023).

Creech filed two habeas petitions in federal…