Tweets won’t slow case

NEW » President Donald Trump’s tweets calling for the death penalty for the man charged in the New York truck rampage could give defense attorneys grounds to argue that Trump has poisoned the minds of potential jurors. But some legal experts doubt that argument will slow the case.

In a highly unusual in- stance of a president weighing in on the fate of a defendant awaiting trial, Trump said onTwitter that 29- yearold Sayfullo Saipov “SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!” in the attack that left eight people dead. In another tweet, Trump said prosecutors “Should move fast. DEATH PENALTY!”

Some legal experts Thursday said judges in Manhattan’s federal courts will not let the president’s remarks slow the case or throwit off track, especially in a courthouse with a quartercentury record of swift terrorism prosecutions with mostly airtight outcomes.

“Nothing slows down the train,” said James Cohen, a professor at Fordham Law School. He said the yet- tobeassigned judge will question prospective jurors to ensure they can be fair despite anything they might have heard or read.

Lawyers differed over whether Trump was out of bounds.

“Even presidents are entitled to First Amendment rights,” said MichaelWildes, a former federal prosecutor.

Joshua Dratel, a veteran defense attorney in terrorism cases, would not predict what a judge might do, but he said the tweets should disqualify prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.

“It’s inconceivable that it would be fair to seek the death penalty when the president has expressed it twice in a tweet,” he said.