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Uzbek lawyers accused in the 2017 truck attack that killed eight people on a Manhattan bike path on Thursday urged a judge to prevent the government from seeking the death penalty, claiming that the decision ultimately falls to the politically minded Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The lawyers quoted Trump's categorical tweets calling for the execution of their client, Sayfullo Saipov, and another more recent tweet suggesting that political considerations should inform the decisions of the Ministry of Justice. They also reported reports that Mr. Trump had considered dismissing Mr. Sessions for not following his wishes.
"Mr. Sessions is working for President Trump and obviously wants to keep his job," wrote Mr. Saipov's federal public defenders. "He challenges reality, not to mention all appearances, to believe that he could take a truly independent decision on whether Mr Saipov should face the death penalty, knowing that a decision not to seek death would inevitably trigger and scorn the president and could well lead to the loss of his employment.
The lawyers also argued that Justice Vernon S. Broderick of the Manhattan District Court should appoint an independent prosecutor to decide whether the death sentence was justified, a decision that Mr. Sessions has not yet announced.
The attack was the deadliest in New York since September 11, 2001. President Trump posted messages on Twitter stating that "SHOULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY" and "Should evolve quickly. DEATH SENTENCE."
On Monday, President Trump told Twitter that recent indictments of "two very popular Republican congressional members" by Jeff Sessions' Justice Department had cast doubt on their chances of re-election.
"In view of President Trump's official statements," Saipov's lawyers wrote that "the Attorney General's decision to demand the death of Mr. Saipov would constitute an unacceptable risk of arbitrariness and unreliability".
Mr. Saipov, 30, who pleaded not guilty, was charged with eight counts of murder for racketeering and other charges. After his arrest, he told the authorities that he was inspired by the videos of the Islamic State and that he had used a truck during the attack to inflict maximum damage to the civilians, according to a federal complaint.
Judge Broderick set the date of the trial as October 7, 2019.
At a hearing in June, Mr. Saipov addressed the judge, saying the judgments in the courtroom were "not important" to him because they were "not the judgments of the court". 'Allah".
At one point, Judge Broderick told Mr. Saipov that he had the right to remain silent and warned that everything he said could be used against him in court. Mr. Saipov said that he understood, but was not at all worried about it.
The US Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which is expected to file a response in court, declined to comment on the defense's motion.
Defense lawyers have already tried to use Mr. Trump's words in court. Last month, in a drug trial in Manhattan, a lawyer tried unsuccessfully to invoke President Trump's criticism of the use of cooperating witnesses – as the president said – but the judge prevented him .
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