This is not a particularly well-written article but several questions come to mind.

According to the article, the convict has already pleaded to state charges of murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate in New York, a state which has no death penalty. He was sentenced to life without parole on those state charges.

Had he pleaded to those charges federally, I could see where the federal DOJ could seek the death penalty. However, as I read the article, the federal charges against the convict include only hate crimes and weapons charges.

1) how do these federal charges warrant the death penalty?
2) how does filing additional federal charges on hate crimes when someone has already pleaded to state hate crimes not run afoul of double jeopardy?


Link

Department of Justice will seek death penalty for Tops Shooter

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - The Department of Justice announced that they intend on seeking the death penalty for Peyton Gendron, who killed 10 people in the racially motivated Tops shooting in May of 2022.

Gendron, now 20 years old, was sentenced to life without parole last February on the state charges he faced in connection to the mass shooting.

The families of victims of the racist mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket had been called to federal court Friday for a "substantial update" in the legal case against the gunman, their attorney said.

And this was the result.

Ten Black people were killed and three other people were wounded in the May 14, 2022, attack.

The families had been waiting to hear whether prosecutors would seek the death penalty against Gendron, 20, who is charged with federally with hate crimes and weapons charges.

Note that Gendron already is serving multiple life sentences with no chance of parole after pleading guilty to New York charges of murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate.

New York does not have capital punishment but because the latest charges are at the federal level, a possible execution came into play.

"United States believes the circumstances in Counts 11-20 of the Indictment are such that, in the event of a conviction, a sentence of death is justified," per a filing in federal court in Buffalo.

His 26 federal charges are:

10x using a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence (18 USC §924)
3x using and discharging of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence ((18 USC §924)
10x hate crimes resulting in death (18 USC §249)
3x hate crimes involving bodily injury and attempt to kill ((18 USC §249)

The first 10x counts, per 18 USC §924(c)(1)(A) and 18 USC §924(j), qualify for the federal death penalty.

quote:

The first 10x counts - involving murdering someone with a firearm during a crime of violence (18 USC 924) - qualify for the federal death penalty.

But how does this square with double jeopardy given he's already pleaded to murder and hate crimes at the state level?

Dual sovereignty exception, which was upheld by the Supreme Court as recently as 2019 in Gamble v. US.

Double jeopardy doesn't protect from both state and federal prosecution, even for the same act.

(It also doesn't protect from being prosecuted by multiple states.)

Sounds like piling on to obtain a desired result after finding out it is unobtainable by other means.

Thanks for that cite! Appreciate it.

It is double jeopardy and he should have been given the death penalty there (State).
The only reason the Feds are after him because he was white and the victims were black.
Hate or not - a crime is a crime, so called "hate crimes" need not be a separate thing.

quote:

Originally posted by FiveFiveSixFan:
Sounds like piling on to obtain a desired result after finding out it is unobtainable by other means.

Pretty much.

The Department of Justice's standing policy since ~1960 has been that they typically will not pursue prosecution for the same act against someone who's already been prosecuted and convicted by the state unless the state sentence is deemed to be "manifestly inadequate in light of the federal interest" and a "substantially enhanced sentence" is available through federal prosecution.

Basically, the additional federal prosecution is a means to enhance his punishment with the much stronger sentence available in federal court, namely the death penalty that wasn't an option in New York.