New York bike lane terrorist faces life in prison after jury fails to reach unanimous decision on death penalty – Boston News, Weather, Sports

(CNN) – A terrorist convicted of committing an attack for ISIS in 2017 killed eight on a bike lane in New York City will serve a life sentence after a jury said Monday it could not reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty.

Sayfullo Saipov effectively learned his verdict when the jury, during the penalty phase of his trial in Manhattan federal court, told a judge that it could not reach an unanimous decision in favor of the death penalty on any of the nine counts it was considering.

A unanimous decision would have been required to sentence Saipov to death the first death penalty trial under the Biden administration. In the absence of the death penalty, the statutory penalty for the convictions is life imprisonment, according to the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York called.

U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick did not immediately impose the ordered sentence Monday, saying an official sentencing date is planned.

Broderick read the full jury verdict form in court, accepted the jury’s decision, and pardoned the panel. Saipov shook hands with his lawyer before being led out of the courtroom.

The A jury convicted Saipov in January of all counts against him for the deadly terrorist attack he carried out on Halloween in 2017. Saipov drove a rented U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on the bike lane on Manhattan’s West Side and then crashed the vehicle into a school bus, authorities said.

After exiting the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and paintball gun, he was shot by a New York City Police Department officer and taken into custody, officials said.

“This evil act was fueled by Saipov’s loyalty to ISIS, a loyalty Saipov proudly maintained after the attack and throughout his trial. Today a jury declined to approve Saipov’s death penalty and accordingly the defendant will face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole,” US Attorney Damian Williams said Monday.

Saipov is expected to serve his life sentence at the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ ADX facility in Florence, Colorado, in solitary confinement for at least 22 hours a day, his attorneys said at the trial.

The jury convicted him in January of murder for the benefit of extortion, assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder for extortion, attempted murder for extortion, material support to IS, and violence and vandalism of a motor vehicle.

The conviction triggered a penalty phase of the trial and jury began discussing the verdict on Wednesday.

The jury said in a note just after 2 p.m. Monday that it could not reach a unanimous decision in favor of the death penalty. Prosecutors asked the court to ask the jury if they were entirely satisfied with no further deliberations, while Saipov’s defense attorneys objected to this approach and asked the judge to accept their verdict.

Broderick decided he would not question the jury.

In accordance with the judge’s instructions, the jury did not indicate on the sentencing form how many members of the panel were for or against the imposition of the death penalty.

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