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Pittsburgh synagogue shooting jurors are deliberating the death penalty for the 2nd day
(JTA) — Jurors weighing whether Robert Bowers should be put to death for murdering 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 have entered their second day of deliberations.
The jurors spent almost all of Tuesday sequestered in deliberations, at one point emerging to request a viewing of the weapons that the gunman used when he attacked the Tree of Life synagogue building on Oct. 27, 2018, and at another point asking for more details about his family’s mental health history.
The jury ruled swiftly in each of the trial’s previous two phases. Jurors took less than five hours on June 16 to find the defendant guilty of all the charges against him. On July 13, they determined that his crimes made him eligible for the death penalty after less than two hours of deliberation.
The more extended deliberations in this third phase could reflect disagreement within the jury. If even a single juror decides that the defendant should not be executed, he will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The length of negotiations could also reflect the weighty and complex task before the jurors, who have been on the trial nearly full-time since the end of May.
As part of coming to a final conclusion about what punishment the gunman should receive, the jurors must complete a 26-page worksheet that requires them to note how many were convinced by each of 115 “mitigating factors,” or reasons the defense has offered for why he should not be executed, as well as nine “aggravating factors, or reasons the prosecution believes he deserves the death sentence.
Among the mitigating factors, the jurors must tally whether they believe Bowers has been a model inmate — a factor the prosecution argued against by saying that he would be less likely to be assigned to the harshest prison as a result — or whether his mother loves him.
Among the aggravating factors jurors must asses Bowers’ expressions of “hatred and contempt toward members of the Jewish faith and his animus toward members of the Jewish faith played a role in the killings of the victims.”
Each juror must then weigh the mitigating factors against the aggravating factor, and determine which is preeminent.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Colville, who has presided over the trial is bound to accept the jury’s verdict when issuing the final sentence. He has indicated that he will allow victims to address the court between the jury’s decision and that final step in the years-long process of prosecuting the gunman. Some of the families of those murdered in the attack have indicated that they wish to speak.
The victims were Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.
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The post Pittsburgh synagogue shooting jurors are deliberating the death penalty for the 2nd day appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Treasure Trove: If you own a share like this, Israel could owe you some money
The Jewish Colonial Trust was established on March 20, 1899. The first Zionist bank was the brainchild of Theodor Herzl who understood that funding would be required to make his vision of a Jewish homeland a reality. Each share cost one English pound, the equivalent of $280 today. (Herzl bought the first 1,000 shares which was a […]
The post Treasure Trove: If you own a share like this, Israel could owe you some money first appeared on The Canadian Jewish News.
The post Treasure Trove: If you own a share like this, Israel could owe you some money appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming
Illustrative: Israeli police at the scene of a car-ramming terrorist attack near a market in Jerusalem on Monday, April 24, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters.
JNS.org – A Palestinian rammed his vehicle into a cop car in the West Bank on Saturday in what the military was investigating as a terror attack.
The incident occurred at the Eli gas station, the scene of repeated acts of terrorism against Israelis.
“A Palestinian vehicle accelerated towards a police car and collided with it, there were no casualties,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Troops caught the terrorist and transferred him to security forces for further investigation,” added the statement.
On Sunday, three Israeli police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint, some 7.5 miles northwest of Hebron in Judea.
They were named as Chief Inspector Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37, of Kiryat Gat, who is survived by his wife and three children; Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, 53, of Sde Moshe, who is survived by her husband, three children and granddaughter; and 1st Sgt. Roni Shakuri, 61, of Sderot, who is survived by his wife, daughter and granddaughter.
Shakuri’s other daughter, 1st Sgt. Mor Shakuri, 29, was killed on Oct. 7 while battling an attempt by Hamas terrorists to take control of the police station in Sderot, in southern Israel near the border with Gaza.
The post Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Ukraine Concerned at Reports of Iranian Ballistic Missiles to Russia
A missile unveiled by Iran is launched in an unknown location in Iran in this picture received by Reuters on August 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it was deeply concerned by reports about a possible impending transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia.
In a statement emailed to reporters, the ministry said the deepening military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow was a threat to Ukraine, Europe and the Middle East, and called on the international community to increase pressure on Iran and Russia.
CNN and The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Iran had transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, citing unidentified sources.
Reuters reported in August that Russia was expecting the imminent delivery of hundreds of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles from Iran and that dozens of Russian military personnel were being trained in Iran on the satellite-guided weapons for eventual use in the war in Ukraine.
On Friday, the United States, a key ally of Ukraine, also voiced concern about the potential transfer of missiles.
“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday that Tehran’s position on the Ukraine conflict was unchanged.
“Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict – which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations – to be inhumane,” it said.
“Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict.”
The post Ukraine Concerned at Reports of Iranian Ballistic Missiles to Russia first appeared on Algemeiner.com.