Pennsylvania | Lawyers for accused synagogue shooter cite new Colorado law in renewed attack on death penalty
Lawyers for Robert Bowers, accused of killing 11 worshipers at Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, are citing Colorado's new law abolishing the death penalty in an effort to spare Mr. Bowers from federal execution. Colorado abolished the death penalty on Monday, becoming the 22nd state to do so since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. Lawyers for Mr. Bowers say the Colorado law represents a "clear and dominant trend of death penalty abolition among the states" and that the federal government should follow suit. The lawyers — public defenders Michael Novara and Elisa Long and anti-death penalty lawyer Judy Clarke — are asking U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose to grant their motion to strike the death penalty as a sentence option on the grounds that it violates the U.S. Constitution. "Our nation is walking away from capital punishment," they said in a motion filed Tuesday. "Colorado’s abolition of the death penalty is the most ...