An Idaho judge can’t preside over a death-row inmate’s lawsuit due to her friendship with a prosecutor whose conduct is challenged in the litigation, a federal appeals court ruled.

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously found that U.S. District Judge Amanda Brailsford’s decision not to recuse herself was “based on a clear error of law.”

A federal appeals court has disqualified a judge from hearing an Idaho death row inmate's lawsuit accusing prosecutors of fabricating evidence to prevent him from winning clemency, saying the judge should have recused herself due to her friendship with the top prosecutor in the case.

An Idaho judge has scheduled the execution of the state's longest-serving death row inmate following a botched attempt to administer his sentence earlier this year.

Idaho's longest death row inmate is set to be executed next month. A judge issued a death warrant for Thomas Eugene Creech, who has been on death row since 1981, one day after prison officials announced that it had renovated its execution chamber.