Sayfullo Saipov death penalty deliberations resume after juror replaced due to family emergency
NEW YORK -- Jury deliberations came to a halt Thursday morning in the penalty phase of Sayfullo Saipov's trial after a juror had a family emergency and couldn't come in.
The jury is determining whether Saipov will get a sentence of death or life in prison for murdering eight people and injuring a dozen others in the name of ISIS on the West Side bike path in 2017.
READ MORE: New York jury could hand Sayfullo Saipov state's first death penalty in 60 years
The distraught juror called in and said he wouldn't be returning. Both parties and the judge agreed that juror would be dismissed for cause. That meant an alternate took his place and the jury had to start deliberations anew.
The jury got the case Wednesday and deliberated for more than two hours. On Thursday, they started again with the alternate just before noon.
At one point they sent a note with several questions about one of the sections on the verdict sheet. The verdict sheet is meant to help guide them during deliberations. It's about 17 pages long.
They sent a note to the court at 4:42 p.m. saying they were unable come to a decision. There is no court on Friday, so deliberations will resume on Monday.
Saipov was convicted by the same jury in January of 28 counts. Nine of them qualified for the death penalty -- murder to gain entrance to ISIS and damage or destruction of motor vehicle.
The jury must be unanimous in deciding on a sentence of death. If just one juror says no, Saipov will get life in prison without release.
It took several months to pick the initial jury. About 800 people were interviewed during the process, and during that process they were asked if they were capable of sentencing someone to the death penalty.