BOISE, Idaho — Idaho inmate Gerald Pizzuto’s death sentence was reduced to life in prison by a state district court judge Friday — a ruling with far-reaching implications for the state after the judge found the governor has no power to reject a clemency recommendation in murder cases under the Idaho Constitution.
Judge Jay Gaskill, of Nez Perce County, ruled that the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole is the only body granted the authority to commute an inmate’s sentence in capital punishment based on a murder conviction. The governor, meanwhile, possesses final say on cases of treason and impeachment only.
“There is no indication that the founders of the people of the state of Idaho in 1986 intended to give the governor the ultimate decision-making authority with respect to whether a death sentence should be commuted,” Gaskill wrote. “This court finds that the commission’s power to issue commutations applies to all cases of offenses against the state except treason or conviction on impeachment.”
Under the action, the death sentence of Pizzuto, 65, who is terminally ill with late-stage bladder cancer, was dropped to life in prison without the chance. Gaskill’s ruling prevents the state from issuing a death warrant to execute Pizzuto, who has been on Idaho death row since 1986.
