U.S. JANUARY 14, 2019 / 3:05 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

Judge says accused NYC bike path attacker still a threat, eases conditions

Jonathan Stempel
3 MIN READ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday said Sayfullo Saipov, who could face the death penalty if convicted of killing eight people on a New York City bike path, should remain subject to special detention measures to protect against terrorism, but eased restrictions on communications involving his legal team.

Saipov, a 30-year-old Uzbek national, has been housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan since his Oct. 31, 2017 arrest, which police said came after he ran over his victims by driving a truck down the lower Manhattan bike path.

Islamic State, or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest assault in New York City since Sept. 11, 2001. Saipov’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 7.

The defendant had been challenging special administrative measures, or SAMs, imposed in April that restricted his communications with people outside his family, and restricted his lawyers from sharing his communications with third parties.

In a 27-page decision, U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick in Manhattan rejected Saipov’s claim that special measures were not needed because he had been “incident-free” while in custody.

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