Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The federal case into the Tops mass shooter, Payton Gendron, continued on Friday as parties returned to court for a preliminary status conference at the Robert H. Jackson Federal Courthouse in Downtown Buffalo.
Friday's pre-scheduled status conference comes just 11 days after the 19-year-old gunman pled guilty to all counts against him at the New York State level of court. Gendron waived his right to appear before the court on Friday, so he was not in attendance for Friday's session.
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During Friday's status conference, it was made known that Gendron's defense team has received a voluminous amount of discovery into the federal case, which they are reviewing as part of the motion for mitigation to avoid a potential trial against Gendron for the death penalty. According to one attorney representing Gendron, she said it was "multiple terabytes" of discovery to go through.
With the extensive amount of evidence to look over going forward, the defense counsel requested for an adjournment for an additional 90 days before returning to court for another update.
Attorneys did clarify there was no plea agreement that led to Gendron's guilty plea on state charges, and there was no understanding that the plea would prevent the federal government from still pursuing the death penalty. There is still the possibility that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland will pursue the death penalty, but that has to be up to the Attorney General and his office whether or not they take Gendron to trial for the death penalty.
In addition, Judge Kenneth Schroeder also says there's no guarantee a jury determine the findings and evidence presented to them worthy of the death penalty.
Also brought up during Friday's status conference was the fact that since Gendron plead guilty to all counts he faced at the state level, which guarantees life in prison without parole, it may be a moot point to advance this federal case any further if there is no possibility of the death penalty.
However, Gendron's attorneys say the shooter is willing to plead guilty to all charges he faces at the federal level if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty.
Judge Schroeder feels, at this point, it should be the focus of the defense team to focus their attention on the mitigation process in order to help their client avoid a potential death penalty trial from the federal government. In the end, he agreed to adjourn the matter until Friday, March 10, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. EST for another status conference.
In addition, Schroeder hopes that the time utilized between now and March 10, 2023 will be utilized to operate in the interest of justice, and that it will be used to conduct pre-trial negotiations and to try and avoid any need for a federal trial.
Meanwhile, Gendron is set to appear for his sentencing in state court on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.
