This week producer Ruth Brown is joined by Rebecca Boone of the Associated Press to discuss the death penalty in Idaho.

On Friday, Gov. Brad Little the commutation recommendation issued for Gerald Pizzuto Jr., who has been on death row for more than 35 years for two murders. The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole voted 4-3 to recommend life without parole for Pizzuto, but the governor denied the move.

Should the state move forward, this will be the first execution in Idaho in nearly 10 years. The last executions conducted in Idaho were those of Paul Ezra Rhoades in November 2011 and Richard Leavitt in June 2012. The only form of execution allowed in Idaho is death by lethal injection.

Read more Idaho Reports death penalty coverage: https://blog.idahoreports.idahoptv.org/category/justice/deathpenalty

This podcast’s conversation was recorded the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 4. On Jan. 5, a hearing was scheduled by Idaho District Judge Jay Gaskill in Mr. Pizzuto’s case. Pizzuto’s next court hearing before Judge Gaskill is scheduled for 3 p.m. Jan. 20. As of roughly 10:30 a.m., Jan. 5, a new death warrant has not been issued for Mr. Pizzuto and he remains in IDOC custody.