Monday, February 13, 2023 | 4:38 p.m.
Sayfullo Saipov, 35, was arrested last month for the attack that occurred in 2017. / Photo: AP
Sayfullo Saipov, 35, was arrested last month for the attack that occurred in 2017. / Photo: AP
A jury is deliberating Monday whether to impose the death penalty on an Islamic extremist who killed eight people on a New York City bike path, an unusual punishment in a state that has not carried out an execution in 60 years. Among those victims were two Argentine tourists.
Sayfullo Saipov, 35, was arrested last month for the attack that occurred in 2017, in which he intentionally ran over people with his truck who were going along the bike path near the Hudson River. The same jury that found him guilty will now return and hear testimony from more witnesses in the sentencing phase of the trial. To impose the death sentence there must be a unanimous decision; otherwise he will be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Saipov’s lawyers hope to convince a jury that life in prison is enough for the attack that killed five friends from Argentina, a woman from Belgium and two Americans. New York has no capital punishment and hasn’t executed anyone since 1963, but Saipov’s trial is at the federal level and therefore the death penalty is an option, though rarely imposed. The last time someone was executed for a federal crime in New York was 1954.
President Joe Biden declared a moratorium on federal executions shortly after taking office, and the Justice Department has so far not initiated any death penalty proceedings. Saipov’s lawyers argue that it is unconstitutional to seek the death penalty when the federal government has stopped seeking it in other cases, including cases where the defendant killed more people.
