Mr. Saipov’s lawyer, David E. Patton, who heads the federal public defender’s office in Manhattan, said he was disappointed by the attorney general’s decision. “We think the decision to seek the death penalty rather than accepting a guilty plea to life in prison with no possibility of release will only prolong the trauma of these events for everyone involved,” he said. Sessions from seeking the death penalty, Mr. Saipov’s lawyers had argued that Mr. Trump’s tweets and other statements had politicized the decision. Sessions works for President Trump and obviously wants to keep his job,” Mr. Saipov’s lawyers wrote. “It defies reality, not to mention all appearances, to believe that he could make a truly independent decision” on the death penalty in Mr. Saipov’s case.

Source: New York Times September 28, 2018 21:23 UTC