Tree of Life shooter Robert Bowers will be in court again this Monday to begin the first phase of the two part phase of sentencing.
Bowers was convicted on all 63 charges levied against him in federal court June 16th. He will now move to what is called the eligibility phase of sentencing. The government will have to prove aggravated factors against Bowers to the jury in an attempt for the jury to rule Bowers is eligible for the death penalty. The aggravated factors include killing of vulnerable victims (both age and intellectual disability) and creating a grave risk for others. They will attempt to do this with victim testimony.
TribLIVE reporter Paula Reed Ward has been covering the trial since Bowers was indicted and she says the government will argue Bowers meets these aggregated factors but the defense believes the government can’t.
The defense will argue that Bowers has schizophrenia and epilepsy in an attempt to avoid the death penalty.
Once the prosecution and defense rest, the jury will once again go into deliberation to decide if Bowers is eligible for the death penalty. Once the jury returns a decision, Bowers will enter the sentencing.
