what to know
- The jury deciding whether to sentence New York bike lane killer Sayfullo Saipov to death had to restart that part of deliberations Thursday because a juror was missing; the absence ended up being excused.
- The federal judge opted for a substitute trial, on the prosecution’s side, instead of a mistrial as requested by the defense; the previous jury of 12 convicted Saipov of killing 8 people in a 2017 terror attack in Manhattan.
- A federal jury in New York has not handed down a death sentence that has withstood legal appeal in decades, with the last execution in 1954. New York state, which no longer applies the death penalty, has not executed anyone since 1963. .
NEW YORK — Deliberations in a New York death penalty case had to start anew Thursday, less than a day after the discussions, due to the absence of a juror, whose absence ended up excused because his brother suffered a heart attack.
Jurors have already convicted Sayfullo Saipov of killing eight people on a Manhattan bike path five years ago in a terrorist attack. The verdict came at the end of January, although the phase of deliberations on the death penalty began last week, on March 1. If the jury of 12 were to decide to execute Saipov, his vote would have to be unanimous. If at least one juror holds out, the 35-year-old former Paterson, New Jersey resident will spend the rest of his days in a high-security prison.
The judge initially halted deliberations entirely while the jury’s absence was investigated. Once the brother’s illness was confirmed, they returned to court. The judge sided with the prosecution’s request for an alternate jury instead of siding with the defense, which requested a mistrial. The absentee juror replacement process was ongoing as of Thursday morning. Deliberations were expected to start again later that day.
The group hadn’t gotten very far. They spent about two and a half hours deliberating Wednesday before being sent home. It only took them 10 minutes to send their first note a day ago. The judge was asked if the panel can argue that lethal injection is the current method of death penalty in the US and that there is currently a moratorium on federal executions.
US District Judge Vernon S. Broderick told jurors that neither issue was suitable for discussion during deliberations and told them not to consider either.
Lawyers for Saipov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, have never denied that he killed eight people by speeding a rented truck through a bike path in lower Manhattan that is popular with tourists. A woman visiting Belgium with her family, five friends from Argentina and two Americans died. Eighteen others were seriously injured.
Saipov’s lawyers asked the jury not to apply the death penalty, noting that several members of his family, including his father and sisters, expressed the hope that one day he would realize how wrong he was to carry out a terrorist attack in the hope of currying favor with the Islamic State group.
And they emphasized that he would spend the rest of his life in seclusion, likely confined to a small cell for at least 22 hours a day with two 15-minute phone calls allowed each month to his family and a few showers allowed each week.
Prosecutors have urged death, saying Saipov never showed compassion for any of his victims, as he tried to kill as many people as he could, even confessing that he hoped to go to the Brooklyn Bridge after the bike lane assault so he could kill. to more people. there.
Afterward, they said, he smiled proudly as he told FBI agents about his attack, even asking that the Islamic State organization’s flag be hung in his hospital room, where he was recovering from a gunshot wound after an officer policeman finished his attack.
A day after the attack, then-President Donald Trump tweeted that Saipov “SHOULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY!”
President Joe Biden later placed a moratorium on executions for federal crimes, but his attorney general, Merrick Garland, has allowed US prosecutors to continue advocating capital punishment in legacy cases from previous administrations.
A federal jury in New York has not handed down a death sentence that has withstood legal appeal in decades, with the last execution in 1954. New York state, which no longer applies the death penalty, has not executed anyone since 1963. .
