Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - To veteran and prominent Buffalo attorney John Elmore, the decision to delay the start of the federal death penalty trial of Tops mass shooter Payton Gendron until later this fall is not a big issue.
The bigger issue is whatever verdict is rendered by the jury is legally air-tight and not up for an appeal.
"I think the families want this over," Elmore said. "They don't want to have to re-live a second trial because of an appeal."
The jury will be asked to either send Gendron to federal prison for the rest of his life with no hope for parole, or face the death penalty.
Gendron, 23, has already been convicted in state charges and has a life in prison with no parole sentence. He admitted to killing 10 Black people and injuring three others during a racially-motivated shooting spree on May 14, 2022 at a Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue.
July selection was due to start on Aug. 17, but has now been pushed back to Oct. 13 - ironically, the same original date that death penalty case was to start in the Robert H. Jackson Federal Courthouse in Downtown Buffalo before U.S. Judge Lawrence Vilardo.
The actual trial may not start until later in the fall.
Elmore says some of the families of the Tops shooting victims prefer life in prison, while others are pushing for the death penalty.
To be found guilty and sentenced to the death penalty, it will take all 12 jurors.
"All it takes is for one juror to be opposed to the death penalty and [Gendron] gets life in prison and no parole," Elmore said.
A judge allows for more pre-trial motions to be heard
A judge allows for more pre-trial motions to be heard
