Trump calls for death penalty in DC murder cases despite city’s ban

President Donald Trump wants to bring capital punishment to Washington, D.C., for anyone convicted of murder in the nation’s capital. “If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “And that’s a very strong preventative.”

Trump said states will have to make their own decisions on the death penalty.

DC’s history of rejecting the death penalty

In 1992, Congress required D.C. residents to hold a public vote on whether to bring back the death penalty. Residents voted 2 to 1 against reinstating it.

In 1997, the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee rejected a capital punishment bill. The proposal would have allowed the death penalty just for the murder of public safety employees. The maximum sentence a convicted criminal can receive is life without parole.

Even though D.C. abolished the death penalty under its own local laws, a defendant in D.C. can still face the death penalty if the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with approval from the U.S. attorney general, chooses to seek capital punishment. The same goes for states that have abolished the death penalty. 

Federal prosecutors signal intent to pursue death sentences

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said Attorney General Pam Bondi will seek the death penalty in “appropriate cases.” When asked how her office plans to get around judges unlikely to impose capital punishment, Pirro said it’s up to a jury, not judges.

“I think it’s really up to a jury as opposed to judges,” Pirro told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. “And I think what the public is seeing is that Washington has been far too violent, one of the most violent cities, unfortunately, in the country. And it is time that we recognize that law and order is back in D.C.”

For a convicted criminal to be sentenced to death, all 12 members of the jury must unanimously agree to the death penalty. If even one juror disagrees, the sentence automatically defaults to life imprisonment without parole. No retrial is allowed.

According to CNN, local juries in D.C. are historically reluctant to impose death sentences. Even when federal courts handle the case, securing a unanimous agreement is often difficult.

Pirro says her office is seeking the death penalty against the suspect accused of shooting and killing two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. in May.