Bowers’ attorney hopes to resolve case without a trial
An attorney for accused synagogue shooter Robert Bowers said in federal court Monday that she hopes to resolve the case without going to trial.
Attorney Judy Clarke of San Diego didn’t elaborate to U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell, but the vast majority of federal defendants — about 95 percent — plead guilty.
No one discussed a plea deal in court, but Ms. Clarke’s likely strategy is to seek a deal in which her client would plead guilty and receive life in prison in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Mr. Bowers was led into court Monday in shackles and dressed in a prison jumpsuit to appear before Judge Mitchell for a routine arraignment. The courtroom at the Joseph F. Weis Jr. U.S. Courthouse on Grant Street, Downtown, was filled with reporters and onlookers as he was arraigned on new charges in the case. The proceeding took only a few minutes, and he was taken back to jail in Butler County.
Mr. Bowers, 46, of Baldwin Borough, was indicted in January on federal hate crimes and related counts in connection with the Oct. 27 massacre that left 11 dead and several others wounded at the Tree of Life congregation in Squirrel Hill.
He now faces 63 counts in all, some of which carry the death penalty. He had already been charged by a federal grand jury with 44 counts, including 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of discharging a gun to commit murder during a crime of violence.
Prosecutors said he was motivated in the attack by hatred of
Jews; the shooting is believed to be the worst antiSemitic attack in the history of the United States.
The Department of Justice is reviewing the case to determine whether it will pursue the death penalty.
Ms. Clarke, who was appointed by a federal judge here to represent Mr. Bowers, has represented many other high-profile defendants in capital cases across the country and is known for cutting deals to spare them death.
Although one of her clients, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death — which he is in the process of appealing — Ms. Clarke’s clients have a history of avoiding being place on death row.
She represented Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in exchange for not being sentenced to die.
She also represented Buford Furrow, who killed one person and injured five others in a shooting in 1999 at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. Furrow also was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty.
Other clients of Ms. Clarke who have avoided the death penalty include: Eric Rudolph, who bombed the 1996 Olympics, abortion clinics and a gay nightclub, killing two people and injuring more than 100 others; Jared Loughner, who killed six people and injured 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in 2011 in Tucson, Ariz.; Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons in 1994 in South Carolina; and Zacarias Moussaoui, one of the 9/11 plotters.
On the new charges, Mr. Bowers entered a standard not guilty plea and requested a trial, as do all federal defendants at arraignments.
The government estimated it would take three weeks to try him, not including any extra time for the penalty phase. No trial date has been set.
The January indictment added new counts to the previous indictment handed up on Oct. 31 that had charged him with 44 counts.
The new filing added 13 violations of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and corresponding counts for firing a gun during those crimes.
The Shepard and Byrd act was passed in 2009 and expanded the federal hate crimes law to include attacks motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived religion, race, color, national origin or sexual orientation.
Mr. Bowers is accused of entering the synagogue armed with multiple weapons, including an AR-15 assault-style rifle, and gunning down worshippers. He then engaged in a shootout with police and was severely wounded himself.