Prosecutors to ask for death penalty for Sayfullo Saipov in 2017 West Side bike path attack
NEW YORK -- A terrorism trial in New York could yield the state's first death penalty in six decades.
Sayfullo Saipov was convicted last month following a deadly rampage in 2017.
The Halloween attack on a bike path along the West Side Highway left eight people dead, and renewed fears of terrorism nearly two decades after 9/11.
Prosecutors this week will ask a jury to sentence the 35-year-old to death.
The Uzbekistan native drove a rental truck down a bike path, mowing down pedestrians and cyclists, blocks from where the twin towers once stood.
He then collided with a school bus, before jumping out and threatening people with fake weapons.
Police stopped him with a gunshot to the stomach.
Last month, Saipov was convicted on 28 counts of crimes that include murder in aid of racketeering and supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
When asked what will happen if prosecutors can't get a unanimous vote, legal expert Chris Geidner said, "He cannot be sentenced to less than life in prison. If they don't decide in favor of the death penalty, he will spend life in prison."
President Joe Biden instituted a moratorium on federal executions after taking office, but Attorney General Merrick Garland allowed prosecutors to continue seeking capital punishment in cases inherited from previous administrations.
