Robert Bowers appeared in U.S. District Court on Monday
Preliminary hearing to be held Thursday
Accused mass killer Robert Bowers appeared briefly in a wheelchair Monday in U.S. District Court for the first of what promises to be many court proceedings in the weeks and months to come.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell, presiding before a courtroom packed with so many media representatives that some watched on video from another courtroom, read the counts against him and appointed the federal public defender’s office to represent him.
A preliminary hearing, at which the U.S. attorney’s office will present its evidence, is set for 10 a.m. Thursday.
Mr. Bowers is accused of killing 11 people Saturday at the Tree of Life Congregation synagogue and wounding six others, four of them responding police officers.
He was wounded multiple times in an exchange of gunfire.
He sat impassively at the defense table like any other defendant in federal court and said nothing except to answer the judge’s questions that he had received a copy of the charges and understood them.
There is no testimony or evidence presented at initial appearance hearings in federal court; that’s reserved for preliminary hearings and detention hearings.
His public defender, Michael Novara, waived a detention hearing, and Mr. Bowers was taken back to jail, where he will be held without bond.
In brief remarks later before media members packed into the courthouse lobby, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said a team of prosecutors is working on the case to “ensure that justice is done.”
His office now has 30 days to present the case to a federal grand jury for indictment. After that, the case will proceed to either a plea or a trial, like any other criminal case.
But in one respect, this case is unlike any other ever brought here.
Mr. Bowers is only the fourth defendant in the history of this district to face the federal death penalty. The others were never sentenced to death, however. The scope and savagery of Mr. Bowers’ alleged crimes is such that he is likely to be the first.
Almost all of those who attended the court hearing were reporters or photographers. But there were a few onlookers with a more personal connection.
Among them were Jon Pushinsky and his wife, Jean Clickner, members of Congregation Dor Hadash for 30 years. Dor Hadash worships at Tree of Life.
They said they were attending the hearing to “be a presence for people whose congregation was violated and to show we still stand and will continue to operate as a congregation.”
Mr. Pushinsky, a longtime federal criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, said he was underwhelmed by Mr. Bowers.
“It wasn’t the face of villainy that I thought I might see,” he said.
Federal prosecutors and law officers worked through the weekend to investigate the shootings and prepare a complaint.
While state prosecutors also filed murder charges, the federal case will take precedence.
Bruce Antkowiak, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at Saint Vincent College, said it is likely there was extensive discussion between federal and local officials to determine jurisdiction.
“The resources of the FBI and federal government could more readily be brought to bear on something like this,” he said. “The federal government and FBI have the capacity to determine more readily and with greater resources whether the defendant had confederates or was connected to a larger group, or if additional plans were afoot.”
It’s not unusual for concurrent federal and state charges to be filed. Double jeopardy, the legal principle that a person cannot be prosecuted for the same crime twice, does not apply to separate sovereigns — in this case the state of Pennsylvania and the U.S.
“Regardless of what Pennsylvania has done or is doing, the federal government is free to go forward and prosecute — even if there is an acquittal in state court,” Mr. Antkowiak said.
Typically the state case would be held in abeyance while the federal case proceeds.
“If something would happen with the federal prosecution, and the result wasn’t what people were hoping for, the state would be in a good position to go forward,” Mr. Antkowiak said. “The state doesn’t have to rush into this.”
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office filed state criminal charges against Mr. Bowers late Saturday, including 11 counts of homicide, and multiple counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.
Mr. Bowers has not been arraigned on those charges. Mike Manko, the DA’s spokesman, said he didn’t know when he will be.
One benefit of proceeding with the federal prosecution first, Mr. Antkowiak said, is that if Mr. Bowers is sentenced to death in U.S. District Court, he will have fewer layers of appeal than in the state system.
If a federal jury fails to sentence Mr. Bowers to death, there is no mandatory life without parole penalty as in state court. Nevertheless, Mr. Antkowiak said, any prison term Mr. Bowers would receive would be a de facto life sentence.