Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Jury selection continues in the federal death penalty trial of Payton Gendron.
Gendron killed 10 Black people in the 2022 racially motivated mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue. The case is the first federal death penalty trial in Buffalo's history, and the first in New York State since 1963.
The jurors now being screened will face a key question: Whether or not they believe in the death penalty.
Former Erie County District Attorney John Flynn told WBEN on Wednesday that potential jurors won't be asked a simple yes or no question on the topic.
"If you ask the question straight up, are you for or against it, you might get people who don't give you a real answer," Flynn said. "You want to pose the question in a way where you get some discussion and you get some thoughtfulness out of the person to try to ascertain whether the person is truly giving you their honest opinion."
While the topic of the death penalty is at the forefront, it isn't the only thing jurors are being screened for.
Whether or not jurors say they will be able to sit through the graphic video evidence that's likely to be shown during the trial will also weigh into the selection process.
"Can you sit through this? Are you able to handle what you may see through the course of this trial?" Flynn said. "The jurors are going to have to respond that they will be able to see this, take it all in, and have the ability to fairly decide whether or not this person committed this crime."
"You might get people who don't give you a real answer" - John Flynn
"You might get people who don't give you a real answer" - John Flynn
