Thread by @adamscochran

1/26

This is a good question, and its the *ROOT* of why the FBI has been pushing disinformation (even to the media and the Governor)

They are *desperate* for this to be a Federal case for specific political and legal reasons and it explains all their "claims":

https://twitter.com/1689241249025323008/status/1967217916044267748

2/26

We know two things:

1) Trump's DoJ was looking at a gun ban for trans people already.

2) MAGA has called for the death penalty, and wants to make a martyr out of Kirk

3/26

3) Kash Patel has dropped the ball so badly on this case, that even Republicans are calling for his resignation and he is desperate to please Trump.

4/26

In the US, the 5th Amendment covers a term we call "Double Jeopardy" meaning you shall not be tried twice for the same crime.

The SCOTUS decided a long time ago there is a "Dual Sovereignty Doctrine" that means a state and federal government can both separately charge BUT

5/26

Many states in their own regulations felt that violated the principle of the 5th Amendment, and so they enacted laws overruling that in their state.

6/26

In Utah that's covered by Utah Code § 76-1-403(1)(b), which says you cannot be retried for the same crime at the state level unless there were "substantially" differing factors.

7/26

Now Utah does have the Death Penalty, but it's very contested.

They also use the standard capital trial approach where:

1) Jury must unanimously find you guilty.

Then

2) Jury must unanimously find it warrants the death penalty.

8/26

It requires that it has:

-aggregating factors (killing of a public official, terrorism, or an especially cruel manner)

and

-These outweigh mitigating factors (age, remorse, mental health and background)

9/26

If it fails to be unanimous vote for the death penalty, then life imprisonment without parole is used Utah Code § 76-3-207(4) - and the penalty phase cannot be retried.

The state prosecutor also has to decide to pursue the death penalty in the first place.

10/26

While the Mormon (LDS) church takes no formal stance on Capital Punishment, they do teach a doctrine of forgiveness, and a culture that highlights the potential of the young, and redemption.

11/26

Depending on the county where he is tried (Utah County is where the shooting was), the County is 90%+ Mormon.

This means the jury is *very* likely to be all Mormon.

12/26

While in theory it should not influence a trial - it will.

It will be a tremendous social challenge for a Mormon jury to unanimously convict a young Mormon man to death.

Especially given he was turned in after he and his father contacted their youth minister.

13/26

So Trump and the FBI want to move the case federally.

meaning it will be:

-Up to Pam Bondi if the death penalty is pursued

A jury will still need to do a unanimous vote, but now they can pick jurors from *all* over Utah, not just heavy Mormon districts.

14/26

Utah jurors have only voted for the death penalty roughly 12%-15% of the time its been offered in federal cases since the 1980s.

That number has been declining, and is lower in heavily Mormon areas.

15/26

To pursue a death penalty federally though a regular murder is *not* enough, it must be:

-Murder of a federal officer
-Murder in aide of racketeering (RICO)
-A hate crime
-Or terrorism

None of which this meets.

16/26

This is why the FBI has been trying to blame:

-Soros and leftist groups (to claim RICO)
-Antifa bullets claim 🙄
-Trans relationship to make it hate based - because Utah is one of the *only* states where "Gender Identity" is part of hate crime bias categories.

17/26

They already leaked this claim to Right Wing influencers and began "investigating left wing orgs in Utah" with no basis.

Because they are on a fishing expedition to make it a federal capital punishment case by any means necessary.

18/26

If they had evidence of it, they'd have put that forward and arrested people.

They've had the shooters laptop and cellphone for days. If someone was helping him, they'd have the messages.

19/26

But, even Governor Cox in his statements seems confused at the information he gets from the FBI, because one minute he says "there is absolutely a partner" and then he says "roommate" right after.

https://twitter.com/17112878/status/1967218780649455853

20/26

He also still repeats the line that "family and friends have said he was left wing" when all of those reports have been retracted already:

https://twitter.com/1049475664804532225/status/1967214748966986116

21/26

The trouble they are having is that even if the roommate is trans, and even if the roommate was in a relationship with the shooter - that doesn't prove it was a hate crime based motivation.

Especially when its the potential trans person that is cooperating.

22/26

If they elevate this to a federal crime on a "hate crime" charge they must prove not just the killing, but the hate crime motivation *BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT*

And if they can only prove the killing part, then the hate crime charge doesn't stick.

23/26

If the hate crime part doesn't stick, then they *CANNOT* retry him at the state level.

There is no regular "murder" charge federally, that's a state crime unless it meets specific conditions.

But it is not materially different than what he'd be tried for federally.

24/26

So if they stick to state crimes:

-Likely life in prison without parole at worst.

If they push for federal crimes:

-Risk actually letting him walk because of double-jeopardy set up if they can't prove hate crime angle.

25/26

They desperately want to get a death penalty here, and to fit their narrative.

But why its taking so long, and has so many conflicting messages, is because they are trying to make either RICO or hate crime stick at any cost, and right now they do not have it.

26/26

So when you understand the State/Federal divide, their risk of sticking to state, and which specific crimes can pursue federal death penalty, it suddenly becomes very clear why all the stories that are pushed then retracted are about RICO conspiracies and trans people.