Second Circuit Reinstates Death Penalty Charges in Buffalo Supermarket Federal Murder Trial

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court ruling that struck three non-statutory aggravating factors in the federal death penalty case against Payton Gendron, who killed ten Black people in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022. The district court had barred the government from citing the impact on surviving victims, Gendron's racist motive, and his attempt to incite further violence. The appeals court held that the surviving-victims factor is relevant under the Federal Death Penalty Act, that the racist motive is not barred by the statute prohibiting racial considerations in capital sentencing, and that the attempted-incitement factor is a permissible motive-based aggravator not protected by the First Amendment. The decision reinstates the death penalty charges on the firearm murder counts, allowing the government to present these factors to the jury.