The lawyers of a white supremacist who is accused of having killed 10 blacks during a shooting in a supermarket in Buffalo, in the United States, requested the abandonment of the Prosecutor’s Office when the latter faces the death penalty if he declares him guilty of the alleged facts.
The defendant’s defense has used a discussion aimed at the lack of diversity of the jury, judging that it was not composed of sufficient ethnic minorities or other minorities.
Federal judge Lawrence Vilardo replied that this objection was “a bit incongruous,” reports NBC News. The latter did not rule directly on the application.
He declared himself guilty in 2022
The shooter declared himself guilty in November 2022 during a first hearing for the important positions, including the murder and, therefore, was arrested for perpetuity without the possibility of probation.
This new trial, for federal charges of hate crimes and possession of weapons, must begin in 2026. According to a lawyer for civil parties, the strategy used by the defendant’s defense aims to “keep it alive,” says CBS News.
“It is very ironic that attention is attracted to this problem in this case, where Payton Gendron has committed a racist homicide,” he said, emphasizing, however, this “persistent problem in our courts must be resolved.”
Source: BFM TV
