A federal court in the Southern District of New York found him guilty of murder. Uzbek Sayfullo Saipov for using a rented truck to fatally run over eight peopleincluding five Argentines, on a New York bike path on October 31, 2017, and on February 6 it will be decided whether the sentence derives in life imprisonment or the death penalty, reported the US press.
The charges stem from the attack in which Saipov drove a U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on Manhattan’s West Side bike lane, after which he crashed the vehicle into a school bus and abandoned the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and another of paintballs, authorities said at the time.
A New York police officer shot him and was arrested, it was officially reported.
Saipoy is an immigrant from Uzbekistan who, according to what he said in his first statements, carried out the attack to join the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
In that attack, which coincided with Halloween, five Argentines died and another was injured.
The fatal victims were identified as Hernán Mendoza, Diego Angelini, Alejandro Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruchi, and the wounded was Martín Marro.
They were all from the city of Rosario and they were on a trip to New York celebrating the 30th. anniversary of their graduation as secondary students from the Polytechnic School of that Santa Fe city, the Argentine Foreign Ministry specified at the time of the attack.
Marteau: “The conditions are in place” for Saipov “to be sentenced to the death penalty”
By Daniel Casas
The lawyer Juan Felix Marteaurepresentative of one of the families of the five Rosario citizens who were fatally run over in October 2017 on a New York bike path, He told Télam that technically “the conditions are in place” for the Uzbek Sayfullo Saipov, who was found guilty, “to be sentenced to the death penalty.”.
On February 6, the same federal court in the Southern District of New York that found him guilty will have to decide whether the sentence is life imprisonment or the death penalty, which would be the first capital sentence to be handed down during the government of Democrat Joe Biden. .
Marteau is a lawyer for Hernán Mendoza’s widow, Ana Evans, and her children in this trial.but he clarified in statements to Télam that his conviction that Saipov is liable to be sentenced to death “is an appreciation that I make in a strictly personal way, from a technical reading of the case.”
“This is my technical opinion, as a lawyer, not as a spokesperson for the Mendoza-Evans family, who may have another position regarding the sentence that this person must serve, who today was found guilty of murder” of his relative and his friends , among other people, he added.
In all, he explained, The sentence against Saipov is based on 28 charges, but the most important for the future of the culprit is charge number 27, which is the figure of “provision of resources or materials to a designated terrorist organization”, in this case the ISIS.
In other words, that charge number 27 typifies Saipov’s collaboration with a group that is incorporated into the list of terrorist organizations made by the United States government.
“It became clear in this process that Sayfullo Saipov provides material support to ISIS. This opens the door through which the death penalty should be accredited,” added Marteau.
At this point, the lawyer stressed that this possibility, which is given by United States laws to deal with terrorism, “does not necessarily represent the interest” of the Mendoza-Evans family.
“The conditions for the sentence to be the death penalty are given by a State policy. But there is also full institutional consistency in the United States; Prosecutors and other judicial officials, regardless of whether they are aligned with former President Donald Trump or current President Joe Biden, agree on this reading,” Marteau added.
Télam consulted the lawyer about whether there was any attempt by the defense to frame Saipov’s actions in an irrational act, moved by madness or a radicalized faith, and the answer was a resounding “no”..
“This was a completely rational act, Sayfullo Saipov did exactly what he wanted to do and it is an action that falls within the ISIS protocols to lead its followers to commit these types of attacks.”
Nicholas Cleves, 23, of New York, and Darren Drake, 32, of New Milford, New Jersey, were the two Americans killed.
Ann-Laure Decadt, a 31-year-old Belgian, was also among the dead, according to a statement from her husband, Alexander Naessens.
Decadt, a mother of two young children, was traveling in New York with her two sisters and her mother, Naessens said after the attack.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours over two days in the case involving the deadliest terrorist attack New York had seen since 9/11, CNN television reported.
The same jury will determine if Saipov he is sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty. The vote must be unanimous for the death penalty to be imposed.
It is planned that the criminal phase of the trial begins on February 6.
The trial is the first federal death penalty case tried during the administration of President Joe Biden, who had campaigned against capital sentencing at the federal level.
Jury deliberations began yesterday afternoon after Judge Vernon Broderick read the instructions to the jury.
Saipov, who had pleaded not guilty, was found guilty of charges of murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, supply of material support for IS; and violence and destruction of a motor vehicle.
In his closing statement, defense attorney David Patton did not dispute the facts of the attack Saipov was charged with, but disputed the prosecution’s claim that the defendant was motivated to commit the attack in order to join IS.
Patton argued that the attack was spurred by religious fervor to please their God and “ascend to paradise” in their religion.
Prosecutors told jurors that Saipov carried out the attack to become a member of the terror group.
“The people that IS relies on to conquer territory and kill non-believers, those are their soldiers, of course they are part of IS, it’s common sense,” prosecutor Amanda Leigh Houle said.
“An organization engaged in a world war needs its soldiers and its soldiers are part of the group,” he added.
Investigators said Saipov told them he had planned the attack for about a year and had been inspired by IS videos, according to a criminal complaint.
Saipov became radicalized by consuming extremist content during long solo stints as a long-haul truck driver, his lawyer said.
He grew up culturally Muslim in Uzbekistan, but was not exposed to any significant amount of religious study, and his family members are not supporters of IS, Patton said.
Saipov came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010 and was residing in New Jersey before the attack. He lived with his wife and his three children and drove for Uber, according to authorities.
He came to the United States on a diversity immigrant visa, which allows people from countries with little recent immigration to apply for a visa and a green card, according to the Department of Homeland Security. She subsequently became a legal permanent resident, according to authorities.
