Sayfullo Saipov will serve life in prison after jury failed to reach unanimous death penalty verdict
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Sayfullo Saipov will spend life in prison without the possibility of release after a Manhattan federal court jury was unable to reach a unanimous sentencing decision for any of the 9 death-eligible counts he faced in connection with the 2017 ISIS-inspired terror attack that killed eight people.
The lack of unanimity, either for death or for life in prison, automatically means a life sentence at ADX in Florence, Colorado where Saipov will spend at least 22 hours a day alone in his cell.
The jury agreed "sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release is a harsh punishment," according to the verdict form.
The jury agreed Saipov intentionally killed his victims after "substantial planning and premeditation" and did it for ISIS.
However, the jury did not unanimously find that Saipov represented a future danger or would likely commit acts of violence while in prison.
Word came in a note to the judge.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to poll each juror, asking them if they believe further discussion could lead to a unanimous verdict. The judge declined.
Instead, the judge brought the jury back, including the alternates, to talk to them.
The judge then decided the jury effectively reached a decision by indicating they cannot reach a decision, as death penalty must be unanimous, or deliberations will continue.
The death penalty deliberations in the case against the convicted ISIS terrorist were stalled by a juror issue last week before resuming Monday.
It was the first such trial since Democrat Joe Biden became president.
Saipov, 35, was convicted in January of killing five Argentine tourists, two Americans and a Belgian woman in the attack. Inspired by Islamic State group propaganda, Saipov drove a truck down a busy riverside path, running over cyclists before crashing into a school bus.
Saipov's attorneys asked jurors to spare him the death penalty, noting how several members of his family including his father and sisters expressed hope that someday he would realize how wrong he was to carry out a terrorist attack hoping to win favor with the Islamic State group.
And they emphasized that he would spend the rest of his life in seclusion, likely confined to a small cell for at least 22 hours a day with two 15-minute phone calls allowed each month to his family and a few showers permitted each week.
Prosecutors urged death, saying Saipov never showed compassion for any of his victims as he sought to kill as many people as he could, even confessing that he had hoped to go to the Brooklyn Bridge after the bike path assault so he could kill more people there.
He is a citizen of Uzbekistan but lived in New Jersey.
A federal jury in New York has not rendered a death sentence that has withstood legal appeals in decades, with the last execution in 1954. New York state, which no longer has the death penalty, has not executed anyone since 1963.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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