TRIBECA, NY — Lawyers for the man accused of careening a truck down a Tribeca bike path, killing eight and injuring a dozen more, argued that Attorney General Jeff Sessions can’t make a fair decision on whether to seek the death penalty because of President Trump’s tweets urging their client’s execution, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Sayfullo Saipov’s defense lawyers filed a motion asking a federal judge to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, claiming Trump’s tweets combined with his attacks on Sessions have made it impossible for the Justice Department to fairly seek capital punishment.
Saipov’s legal team asserts Sessions is being pressured to make politically charged decisions to appease the president — who has called for Saipov to face the death penalty in tweets.
“Mr. Sessions works for President Trump and obviously wants to keep his job,” Saipov’s federal public defenders wrote in the legal filing. “It defies reality, not to mention all appearances, to believe that he could make a truly independent decision as to whether Mr. Saipov should face the death penalty, knowing that a decision not to seek death would inevitably trigger a ‘tweetstorm’ of ridicule and scorn from the President and might well lead to the loss of his job.”
Saipov’s legal team, led by attorney Jennifer Brown, argued that an independent prosecutor should be appointed to decide if capital punishment is warranted. Sessions has yet to announce his decision on whether to pursue the death penalty.
The ISIS-inspired attack was the deadliest on New York City since Sept. 11, 2001 and triggered tweets from Trump declaring “SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY” and “Should move fast. DEATH PENALTY.”
Saipov’s defense lawyer also noted Trump’s tweet on Labor Day criticizing Sessions for indictments of two Republican congressmen, Rep. Chris Collins and Rep. Duncan Hunter.
“The pressure from Mr. Trump’s intemperate demands are simply too great for Attorney General Sessions or anyone else who works for President Trump to appropriately exercise the fact-based, independent decision-making process required,” wrote Saipov’s lawyers. “That taint on the charging process cannot be tolerated.”
Photo courtesy of St. Charles County Department of Corrections
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