No Death Penalty For Poway Synagogue Shooter
LAPPL News Watch
August 31, 2021
The
Rancho Peñasquitos man charged in the hate-crime attack at a Poway
synagogue that killed one woman and injured three others will not face
the death penalty in federal court, prosecutors said Monday.
In a terse
one-sentence court filing, prosecutors with the Department of Justice
said they will not seek the execution of John T. Earnest, 22, in
connection with federal charges filed in the wake of the April 27, 2019
attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue.
The court filing means Earnest
will not face the death penalty in either federal or state court.
He
pleaded guilty to state charges of murder and attempted murder on July
20 in a plea bargain in which San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer
Stephan agreed not to seek state execution. Under the terms of that
deal, Earnest will be sentenced to life without possibility of parole,
as well as 121 years to life and an additional 16-year term. He is
scheduled to be sentenced in San Diego County Superior Court on Sept.
30.
Meanwhile, the status of his federal case is unclear. In June,
Earnest sign off on a conditional agreement to plead guilty in the
federal case, which was then forwarded to U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick
Garland.
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