NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. authorities mentioned it plans to hunt the dying penalty for the person charged with utilizing a truck to kill eight folks on a Manhattan bike path on Halloween in 2017.
In a letter filed late Friday in Manhattan federal courtroom, prosecutors mentioned Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland “determined to proceed to hunt the dying penalty” towards Sayfullo Saipov, and that they notified the defendant’s attorneys and victims.
David Patton, a federal public defender representing Saipov, declined to remark.
The choice adopted Garland’s July 2021 moratorium on federal executions whereas the Division of Justice evaluations its use of the dying penalty. Executions had resumed in 2020 beneath Garland’s predecessor William Barr, following a 17-year hiatus.
Saipov, 34, an Uzbek nationwide, has pleaded not responsible to a 28-count indictment, together with for homicide and for offering materials help to Islamic State, a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Prosecutors mentioned Saipov deliberately used a House Depot rental truck to mow down folks alongside the West Facet Freeway on Oct. 31, 2017, hoping to achieve membership in Islamic State.
Based on prosecutors, Saipov selected Halloween as a result of he thought extra folks can be on the streets, and in addition deliberate to strike the Brooklyn Bridge.
These killed included 5 Argentinian vacationers and one Belgian vacationer. A couple of dozen different folks had been severely injured.
Saipov has been jailed since his arrest, and is now housed in Brooklyn. If discovered responsible, he is also sentenced to life in jail with out parole.
A whole lot of potential jurors obtained questionnaires final month to evaluate their information of the case and potential bias.
Formal jury choice may start round Oct. 11 and final just a few weeks, and a trial may stretch into January 2023.
The Justice Division beneath Garland has defended the dying penalty in some circumstances.
They embrace Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber, and Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who killed 9 Black folks at a South Carolina church in 2015.
The case is U.S. v. Saipov, U.S. District Court docket, Southern District of New York, No. 17-cr-00722.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Modifying by Marguerita Choy)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.
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