Idaho prosecutors opting not to seek death penalty

BOISE – Fewer Idaho prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in murder cases in recent years.

The Idaho Statesman reports that only two counties have asked for the death penalty in murder cases since 2003, and Ada County prosecutors haven’t pursued capital punishment since jurors declined to find two defendants eligible for the death penalty in 2005.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled seven years ago that juries, not judges, must unanimously decide that a defendant qualifies for the death penalty – adding another factor prosecutors must weigh when determining whether to seek capital punishment.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson decided last month not to seek the death penalty against 25-year-old Silas Parks, who is accused of murdering his pregnant wife, 28-year-old Sarah Parks, and setting their Moscow home on fire.

Thompson said he didn’t think the available evidence was enough to meet all the requirements for capital punishment under Idaho law, which requires juries to consider factors that justify the death penalty against factors that make the defendant less culpable for the crime.

“Basically, we felt we would only be able to address one or two of the aggravating factors, and (that evidence) wasn’t really strong,” Thompson said. “We felt any kind of mitigating evidence (collected by Silas’ attorneys) would outweigh that.”

In two other recent high-profile cases, prosecutors also opted against pursuing capital punishment.

Elmore County prosecutor Kristina Schindele made the decision after Mexico said it would only extradite triple-murderer suspect Jorge Orozco to Idaho if the county agreed not to pursue the death penalty.

In the other case, Ada County Prosecutor Greg Bower decided not to pursue the penalty against Daniel Ehrlick and Melissa Jenkins, who are charged in the murder of Jenkins’ son, 8-year-old Robert Manwill.

Bower said many legal and factual reasons were behind his decision but he declined to offer details.