By Ray Dombrowski
BUFFALO — Jury selection in Payton Gendron’s federal death penalty trial enters its third week today. Elsewhere in the courts, a fatal Kensington Avenue crash led to an indictment, two deadly Buffalo cases ended in prison sentences and a Hamburg jury took about an hour to convict a man of breaking into a neighbor’s apartment. The district attorney also named a prosecutor to handle Election Day complaints.
Gendron jury selection: the life-or-death question
Individual questioning of prospective jurors is expected to continue this week at the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse. Jury selection began Oct. 13 in the case against Payton Gendron, who killed 10 Black people at the Tops market on Jefferson Avenue on May 14, 2022.
Mr. Gendron is already serving life in prison after pleading guilty to state murder charges. He now faces 27 federal charges, including hate crimes. WBEN reported that 20 of the charges carry a possible death sentence, making this the first federal death penalty trial in Buffalo’s history and the first in New York State since 1963.
His lawyers are not contesting guilt. “We fully expect Payton Gendron to be convicted on each of the 27 charges against him,” federal public defender Kristina D. Leslie told prospective jurors, WGRZ reported.
“We’re here because the federal government seeks from you the authority to execute Payton,” said Theresa M. Duncan, another member of the defense team.
Prosecutors, according to WGRZ, have been asking prospective jurors, including those who support capital punishment, whether they could actually sign a verdict form sentencing a person to death. A death sentence requires a unanimous jury, the station noted.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo hopes to seat 12 jurors and six alternates by mid-November, with the trial possibly starting late that month, WBEN reported.
Terry Connors, a Buffalo defense attorney who is not involved in the case, described the atmosphere to WBEN. “Everyone is on their toes,” he said. “They have to be.”
“Everyone is working very hard to get everything right,” Mr. Connors said. “It’s historic stuff.”
Indictment in fatal Kensington-Grider taxi crash
James A. Banks, 35, of Antioch, Calif., was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of second-degree manslaughter, District Attorney Michael J. Keane’s office announced.
Prosecutors allege that at about 12:34 a.m. on Aug. 31, Mr. Banks drove west on Kensington Avenue through a red light at Grider Street while under the influence of alcohol and hit a taxi. The cab’s rear passenger, 69-year-old Gloria Johnson, died of her injuries. The driver was treated for minor injuries.
Mr. Banks is held without bail and faces up to 25 years if convicted of the top charge. He returns to court Nov. 10. Like all defendants, he is presumed innocent.
Two Buffalo deaths, two sentences
Benjamin J. Medley, 62, of Buffalo, was sentenced Oct. 19 to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison for a fatal hit-and-run in Black Rock, and his driver’s license was revoked for a year. The DA’s office said he struck 66-year-old Richard T. Gould at Grant and Amherst streets on Dec. 10, 2024, and drove off. Mr. Medley pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death.
The same day, Jahi Pope, 23, of Getzville, received 20 years in prison plus five years of post-release supervision for his role in the July 29, 2024, fatal shooting of 19-year-old Naszair E. Sanders on the 1400 block of Broadway, near Liddell Street, in the Genesee-Moselle neighborhood. Mr. Pope had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in July.
Williamsville man gets 8 years for child sexual abuse
John A. Camardo III, 47, of Williamsville, was sentenced Oct. 19 to eight years in prison and 10 years of post-release supervision, and must register as a sex offender. He had pleaded guilty in July to second-degree rape and second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, involving two children in Amherst, according to the DA’s office.
“I commend these two brave victims as their disclosures were essential to hold this defendant accountable for his crimes,” Mr. Keane said. “I encourage anyone who may have been victimized by this defendant, or anyone who has been the victim of a crime, to contact law enforcement.”
Hamburg jury convicts in apartment break-in
A jury deliberated about an hour Thursday before finding Michael V. Manning, 38, of Hamburg, guilty of second-degree burglary, the DA’s office said.
Prosecutors said that at about 3:30 a.m. on March 9, Mr. Manning forced open the door of a woman’s apartment in the building where he lived. She did not know him. He left when she said she was calling police, then came back as she blocked the damaged door with a chair and called 911. He faces up to 15 years at sentencing Dec. 15 before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case and is held without bail.
A prosecutor on call for Election Day
With the Nov. 3 general election a week away, Mr. Keane said Friday he has designated a prosecutor from his Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau to act as liaison to police agencies on voter intimidation, election fraud and other prohibited conduct at polling places.
“Any attempt to prevent voters from casting their ballots will not be tolerated,” Mr. Keane said.
Complaints about Erie County polling sites can go to the DA’s office at 716-858-2400. Statewide complaints can go to the Attorney General’s Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-390-2992. The DA’s office said violence or dangerous conduct should be reported to local police immediately.
Photo: The Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse in Buffalo. U.S. General Services Administration, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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