U.S. prosecutors to seek death penalty in Rhode Island shooting

[KamaAina]

http://news.yahoo.com/prosecutors-seek-death-penalty-rhode-island-shooting-202530073.html

The U.S. federal government will seek the death penalty against a man accused of robbing and killing a gas station manager in Rhode Island if the suspect is convicted of murder at trial, federal prosecutors said on Monday....

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, a political independent, initially resisted, asserting the state's policy of opposing the death penalty. But a federal appeals court in Boston last month ordered him to hand Pleau over to federal authorities....

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said it was "unusual" for the federal government to pursue a death penalty case in a state opposed to it, especially since the crime does not involve terrorism or another matter of national concern.

"It's surprising as the state has said it could handle the case and the defendant said he'd plead guilty and get life without parole - it could have been done differently," said Dieter.

Is this just one rogue prosecutor, or is this going to be standard practice?

[bluestateguy]

1. Where is the federal jurisdiction?

I'm not seeing it.

[KamaAina]

2. The crime happened at a bank

where the victim was making a deposit.

You're right, though. That's pretty weak.

[bluestateguy]

3. Oh brother

That's like saying that a crime happened on a sidewalk that the federal government provided 2 cents of funding to build, so hand him over!