Payton Gendron, 18, who’s accused of murdering 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, faces multiple state and federal charges. If he’s convicted, the only question is whether he’ll get life or death.
New York no longer has a death penalty, but the feds do, and a federal magistrate judge “urged Justice Department lawyers to expedite a decision” on whether they’ll seek it during Gendron’s initial federal court appearance on Thursday, June 16, 2022 (see story here).
They replied that’s up to Attorney General Merrick Garland (see story here). The judge “agreed to provide court-appointed attorneys, including two specifically qualified in death-eligible cases” for Gendron, after finding him indigent. Gendron says he has $16 to his name.
Federal executions are on hold for now. Last year Garland ordered a moratorium “to allow for a Justice review of death penalty policy.” However, he hasn’t ruled it out in Gendron’s case, saying “a decision … required deliberation that included discussions with the victims’ families.”
Families of Buffalo victims have expressed mixed feelings, with some indicating they’re against the death penalty in principle, but may want it in this case (see story here).
Under our legal system, victims and their relatives don’t have the final say about prosecution decisions. That’s because crimes are deemed an offense not just against the victims, but also against society, which gives the government the final say. Thus, the Justice Department prosecutors could seek the death penalty, and a jury could impose it, against the families’ wishes — although as a practical matter prosecutors likely would be less inclined to do so over their opposition, partly because of the greater expense involved.
The Buffalo shooting is similar to the 2015 Charleston church shooting in terms of racist motive, the gunman’s youthfulness, and number of people killed — and the fact both killers survived to face justice. That perpetrator, Dylan Roof, was sentenced to life in state court and death in federal court, and is currently on federal death row at Terre Haute, Indiana, while appealing his death sentence.
I would start with the premise these killers deserve to be executed, and put the burden on their lawyers to convince me they should be spared. But ultimately, it’s prosecutors and jurors who will decide, and the rest of us are just spectators.