Judge: Trial of synagogue shooter won't conflict with High Holy Days next year

No part of the trial against accused synagogue gunman Robert Bowers will take place during the Jewish High Holy Days next year, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Federal prosecutors had proposed that jury selection in the capital case begin Sept. 14 – four days before the start of Rosh Hashanah, which marks the Jewish new year. Met with opposition from the defense about the timing, prosecutors said they did not intend for any testimony to happen during the holidays.

District Judge Donetta Ambrose said the congregations Dor Hadash and New Light wrote to her asking that no part of the trial take place during the holidays. New Light, she said, asked that no part of the trial begin until after Oct. 27, 2020 –the second anniversary of the shooting.

“I want to assure those people who have written to me: The trial date will not conflict with the holidays,” Ambrose said, noting that those impacted by the shooting have the right to be at jury selection as well as the trial.

The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, are considered the most profound observances in the Jewish religious year.

Donna Coufal, president of Dor Hadash, said she appreciated that consideration.

“It was very touching and moving that our voice was heard and it matters that we wrote the letter and the voices connected to the victims were heard,” she said.

The timing would have been too difficult, said Dor Hadash congregant Jon Pushinsky. The pair has attended a majority of the hearings in the case, even brief status conferences.

“I think we’re bearing witness to this entire process,” Coufal said. “It’s important for us to see and be seen all through this difficult journey.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song said she would be happy to draft a new proposed schedule, but Ambrose said she never sets a trial date until it’s certain it won’t be rescheduled.

“I’m not setting a trial date because I don’t want to move a trial date,” she said.

Bowers, 47, faces a 63-count indictment charging him with 11 deaths inside the Tree of Life synagogue. Along with Dor Hadash and New Light, the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha congregation lost congregants in the attack.

Beyond the trial date, prosecutors and the defense team continued to squabble over evidence and the discovery process, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti saying his side has turned over what it is required to turn over.

Defense attorney Judy Clarke, who is leading the defense team that also includes federal public defenders Elisa Long and Michael Novara, continued to argue that there were still items that prosecutors had not given them.

“We should see every item of physical evidence, whether the government intends to introduce it or not,” she said.