Lawyers for a man convicted of killing eight people along a Manhattan bike path five years ago say prosecutors are unfairly using emotional testimony from victims' families to try to win a death penalty ruling from a jury.
along a Manhattan bike path say prosecutors are seeking “eye for an eye” justice by using tearful testimony from victims and their families to convince a jury to order death.of Sayfullo Saipov's trial to declare a mistrial over the issue.
The same jurors who heard numerous victims and family members of the dead tearfully testify before convicting Saipov have watched many others describe during the last week how their lives have been permanently altered by the terror attack. Some witnesses have testified twice. In their filing, defense lawyers cited some of Thursday's testimony, including by Belgian witness Alexander Naessens, whose wife, Ann-Laure Decadt, was killed.
“This is nothing more than an appeal for an ‘eye for an eye' justice that encourages the jury to ignore or disregard any mitigation and is otherwise irreconcilable with the jury’s task: To soberly weigh the evidence in aggravation to determine whether Mr. Saipov deserves the ultimate punishment,” they added.
“Of course, the defense is not criticizing the witnesses for the grief and pain they feel over the loss of Ms. Decadt," they added. “However, it is indisputable that the penalty phase of a federal capital proceeding is not the forum for victims to freely express their emotions or, in Ms. Wyseur’s case, vent their rage and torment.”During the trial's penalty-phase, Judge Vernon S.
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