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Prosecutors urge jurors to choose death penalty in NYC bike path terror case
By
Isidoro Rodriguez
Published Feb 13, 2023
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Courtesy St. Charles County Department of Corrections
By
Isidoro Rodriguez
Published Feb 13, 2023
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Federal prosecutors Monday urged a Manhattan jury to vote for the death penalty in the case of a man convicted of running over and killing eight people along the West Side Highway bike path in October 2017.
In the opening arguments for the sentencing phase of the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Houle said Sayfullo Saipov has no remorse for what he did.
“He murdered eight people and intended to murder more,” Houle said. “It was all part of the defendants plan. It’s all he wanted, and he is proud.”
If the jury votes unanimously to sentence Saipov to death after hearing testimony, the 35-year-old Uzbekistan native would be the first person executed in New York State since 1963. It would also be the first federal execution to take place under President Joe Biden's administration, despite campaign promises to abolish capital punishment in federal cases.
Throughout the proceeding, Saipov sat quietly in the packed courtroom, often with his chin tucked into his chest and his eyes closed. He wore a black jacket and a white button down shirt.
Saipov was found guilty of murder and terrorism charges last month. His attack was the deadliest in New York since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It claimed the lives of five tourists from Argentina, one from Belgium and two American citizens.
New York state does not have the death penalty. Death – which would take place by lethal injection – is only an option for the jury to consider because Saipov was convicted in federal court.
Saipov’s defense lawyer, David Stern, argued that Saipov should be allowed to live. “There has already been enough death,” Stern told the jury. “Life in prison is punishment enough. He will die in prison, it’s just a question of when,” said defense lawyer David Stern.
If Saipov is spared the death penalty, he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. Stern told the jury what his life will be like in custody at a maximum security Colorado prison. He said Saipov will be confined to a tiny cell with a cement bed, single cement stool, metal door and a window that looks out at nothing. He will be there alone 23 hours a day and will be escorted anywhere he goes by officers.
Stern argued that Saipov was a victim of ISIS propaganda. He said the terrorist organization is known to recruit in Uzbekistan because the nation’s long repression of religious minorities makes it fertile ground for extremism. He said Saipov was an easy target for indoctrination.
The jury is expected to hear testimony from more than 20 witnesses over the next several weeks, including family members of people killed in the attack and some people who survived the incident. Stern said he will call a federal prisoner who will testify that life in a maximum security prison is a sufficient punishment.
The prosecution’s first witness, Ana Evans, testified about how losing her husband, Hernán Mendoza in the attack has impacted her and her three children, who were ages 3, 9 and 11 at the time. She said her oldest child stopped speaking for a year after her father was killed.
“Everything in my life has changed,” she said tearfully through a translator. “The impact has pulled me apart. I’ve been able to put myself back together, but the scars are still there.”
Tagged
public safety
manhattan
Isidoro Rodriguez
Isidoro Rodriguez is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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