Jury Selection Begins in Federal Death Penalty Trial of Payton Gendron

Jury selection began on Tuesday in the federal death penalty trial of Payton Gendron in Buffalo. Gendron is charged with 27 federal counts, including 10 counts of hate crime resulting in death, for the 14 May 2022 shooting at a Tops supermarket. He killed 10 Black people and wounded three others. He has already pleaded guilty to state murder and domestic terrorism charges and is serving life without the possibility of parole.

The federal case can result in a death sentence. New York does not have a state death penalty, but federal hate crime statutes allow it. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo is overseeing the proceedings. Jury selection is expected to last more than a month. Opening statements could begin in early December. The process takes place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. More than 500 juror questionnaires have already been stricken or dismissed.

Gendron was 18 at the time of the attack. Investigators say he wrote a manifesto containing white supremacist conspiracy theories and targeted the store because of its location in a predominantly Black neighbourhood. The federal indictment includes firearms offenses as well as the hate crimes. The prosecution must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. If the jury convicts, a separate penalty phase will decide between life imprisonment and death.

Defence lawyers have filed multiple motions, including requests for additional peremptory challenges that the judge denied. They have also raised issues about the composition of the grand jury and potential bias in the jury pool given extensive media coverage. Prosecutors will look for jurors who can set aside prior knowledge of the case and follow the law, including the possibility of a death sentence.

Families of the victims have largely stayed out of public statements during jury selection to avoid influencing the pool. The trial will include graphic evidence, including video recorded by Gendron during the attack. The case is the first federal capital prosecution in the Western District of New York in many years. Gendron remains in custody at a county jail while the proceedings continue.