MANHATTAN (PIX11) — The federal jury that convicted Sayfullo Saipov of intentionally mowing down bicyclists and pedestrians with a truck on Halloween Day 2017 will start the death penalty phase of his trial Monday.
Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York will push for Saipov, an Uzbek immigrant, to be put to death by lethal injection for an act of terror they said was carried out in the name of ISIS.
The truck attack was the first deadly act of terror in New York City since 9/11, and it was carried out in the shadow of the Freedom Tower, the symbol of resilience in the aftermath of the city’s darkest day.
Defense lawyers said Saipov, now 35, wanted to be a religious martyr but did not seek membership in the Islamic State organization. They argued in legal briefs that the U.S. government did not seek the death penalty in other cases where more people were killed and suggested Saipov was being singled out as a Muslim immigrant.
No one has been put to death in the state of New York since 1963.
This is a federal case, in a different court system, but it bears noting that no one has been executed in New York for a federal crime since 1954, when a bank robber who killed an FBI agent received the death penalty.
In 1953, husband and wife Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were put to death in the electric chair in New York, after they were convicted in federal court of attempting to sell atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
President Joe Biden had issued a moratorium on federal executions when he took office in 2021. But the Saipov case moved forward last month as a death penalty case.
New Yorker Nicholas Cleves, 23, and Darren Drake, 32, of New Jersey were among the eight people killed when Saipov sped down West Street on October 31, 2017 and set his sights on the bike path.
Five Argentine friends in New York to celebrate a high school reunion were also killed, along with Belgian tourist Ann-Laure Decadt, a mom of two who was in the city with her sisters and mother.
Ten others were injured in the attack, including a Belgian woman who had both legs amputated.
The jury of nine men and three women must be unanimous in its decision. If even one juror dissents, no death penalty will be imposed and Saipov will receive life without parole.
Additional witnesses are expected to testify during this phase of the case before a decision is made on Saipov’s punishment.
