From Judge Lawrence Vilardo (W.D.N.Y.) Tuesday in U.S. v. Gendron:
A federal indictment charged [Payton] Gendron with twenty-seven felony counts in connection with a shooting that killed ten people and injured three at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, 2022. On January 12, 2024, the government filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty. That notice included nine aggravating factors that the government proposed asking the jury to consider when deciding whether Gendron should be sentenced to death.
The Federal Death Penalty Act ("FDPA") enumerates certain aggravating factors and allows the jury to consider "other aggravating factor[s]" as well. The government alleged four enumerated factors in this case: grave risk of death to additional persons, substantial planning and premeditation, vulnerable victim, and multiple killings and attempted killings. And the government added five other aggravating factors: victim impact, injury to surviving victims, racially motivated killings, attempt to incite violence, and selection of site.
The court refused to dismiss most of the aggravating factors, but did dismiss the attempt to incite violence factor:
