NEW VOICES: Federal Judge Says New York Case is ​“Absurd” Waste of Time and Money

U.S. District Judge Frederick Block recent­ly told fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors that pur­su­ing a death sen­tence for Kenneth McGriff would be an ​“absurd” waste of time and mon­ey. According to a court tran­script, while jurors were on a break dur­ing clos­ing argu­ments of the guilt phase of McGriff’s tri­al, Block advised pros­e­cu­tors to con­tact their super­vi­sors in Washington, DC, and ask them to recon­sid­er their deci­sion to seek the death penal­ty if McGriff is con­vict­ed in a con­tract killing con­spir­a­cy. He told pros­e­cu­tors, ​“I feel, as an offi­cer, as a judge, that this is an absurd pros­e­cu­tion based upon what I have heard. I think I have a respon­si­bil­i­ty to let author­i­ties know. … There’s just no chance that 12 jurors will vote for the death penal­ty in this case, and I think it is good for us to save mon­ey, if we can do that, and judi­cial resources.”
UPDATE: The jury’s non-unan­i­mous sen­tenc­ing vote will now result in the judge impos­ing a sen­tence of life-with­out-parole for McGriff. (N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2007).
(Associated Press, January 25, 2007). See New Voices and Federal Death Penalty.