Trump tweets put fair trial in doubt
DONALD Trump’s harsh public statements about alleged criminals, including the man charged in the New York truck rampage this week, could see them walk away with lighter sentences.
Mr Trump has tweeted that Sayfullo Saipov, 29, should be sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp and get the death penalty.
“NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. Should get death penalty!” Mr Trump wrote.
He repeated the comments hours later, tweeting again “death penalty!”
The comments have already been seized on by Mr Saipov’s attorneys as evidence of bias.
In fact some legal experts have suggested the tweets could guarantee Mr Saipov (pictured) will not get the death penalty.
This is because Mr Trump’s comments may be used to argue that Mr Saipov will not get a fair trial because the President has already suggested he is guilty and deserves to be put to death.
The military system is different to the country’s federal criminal apparatus, but as legal news website Above The Law pointed out: “When the President of the United States says you should be killed before you’ve even been tried, it causes real problems for the administration of justice”.
“At the very least, Trump has probably already made it so Saipov cannot be put to death,” the website’s executive editor Elie Mystal wrote.
– news.com.au