Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial begins Tuesday

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A jury of 12 people and six alternates has been seated, and after nearly four years of delays, the trial of the man accused of killing 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue is set to begin Tuesday morning.

It’s said that justice delayed is justice denied but beginning Tuesday, the families of the victims will finally be getting their day in court. More accurately, this trial will likely take two months or more as the government presents in painstaking detail the attack on the synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, 2019. And the defense will then argue why it believes he should be spared the death penalty.

In the past three and half years, the case has been mired in delays brought on by the pandemic and hundreds of motions and countermotions, including the defense’s repeated effort to take the death penalty off the table. Judge Robert Colville and the prosecution denied those and so the trial will go forward.

The court took a solid month to empanel a jury, having sent out some 1,500 questionnaires. The two sides interviewed more than 200 potential jurors and whittled them down to an eligible pool of 69. Last week, both sides parred them down further to 12 jurors and six alternates — 11 women and 7 men. Though Judge Colville lamented their lack of diversity — all white and one Asian member.

“This process has attempted to assure the government at least that these jurors are capable of giving the death penalty if they believe it’s warranted,” Bruce Antkowiak of St. Vincent College said. 

No witness list has been released, but in the coming weeks and months, the jurors will endure the emotional burden of hearing the eyewitness testimony and viewing the forensic evidence as the prosecution presents in horrific detail the attack on the innocent worshippers in the synagogue. But the issue is not so much guilt or innocence but whether the defendant will face the death penalty, the government arguing that as a pre-mediated hate crime and mass murder, death is warranted while the defense will try to humanize the defendant, maintaining he has psychological and emotional conditions and should be spared.

“The death penalty is the issue in the case. There is really no other disputable issue in the case,” Antowiak said.

The families and community support group, the 10.27 Healing Partnership, urged people to use caution in exposing themselves to these details and seek help if they are re-traumatized by the trial.

“There are many resources across this city — from therapists to healing meditation communities to houses of worship to community centers. The 10.27 Healing Partnership will continue to offer programs for wellness and for healing as well as drop-in counseling services five days a week,” Maggie Feinstein said.