Prosecutors want judge to question accused synagogue shooter

PITTSBURGH » Federal prosecutors have asked the judge overseeing the capital case of Robert Bowers, accused of murdering worshippers at Tree of Life synagogue, to question him in person to make sure he understands the rights that he has been waiving for more than three years through his lawyers.

Among those rights is the one guaranteeing a speedy trial.

The government said in a motion filed Monday that U.S. District Judge Robert Colville should order Bowers to appear in person to confirm that he knows his rights are being waived by his defense team.

The U.S. attorney’s office said it isn’t making the request to challenge the competency of the defense but to “forestall any potential future appellate and/or collateral litigation that could arise from the defendant’s protracted absence in federal court and attendant waivers.”

Bowers is accused of murdering 11 worshippers at the synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018. The motive was hatred of Jews, prosecutors said.

But aside from an initial appearance to answer a complaint when the FBI arrested him and his subsequent arraignments before a magistrate judge, he has never appeared in federal court in person or by video before either U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose or Colville.

Ambrose retired recently and Colville has taken over.

Prosecutors Soo Song, Troy Rivetti, Eric Olshan and Julia Gegenheimer said that for every proceeding, including a two-day suppression hearing last fall about his own statements at the scene, Bowers has waived his right to be present through representations by his lawyers.

He has continually waived his right to a speedy trial and also waived his right to be present for the inspection of the physical evidence in the case.

Further, the prosecutors said, he hasn’t signed any written waivers.

They said that given the gravity of the case and all the time that has passed since the killings, it is a good idea for Colville to confirm from Bowers that he knows his rights are being waived.

Questioning him in person will assure that the judge, the prosecution and the public know that Bowers’ waivers are voluntary, as is the case in every other federal prosecution.

By way of example, the prosecutors said that in every federal court proceeding, including detention hearings, pleas and sentencing, judges always ask defendants directly if they understand their rights and know what is going on.

In the Bowers case, none of that has happened.

Bowers faces the federal death penalty if convicted. The defense team is seeking a plea deal that will spare him execution.

He is only the fourth defendant to ever face a potential federal death sentence in the Western District of Pennsylvania.