Capital punishment in New York
In 2005, supporters of the death penalty in the New York Legislature passed a bill restoring New York's death penalty in the Republican-controlled State Senate, but the legislation was voted down by a legislative committee in the Democratic-controlled New York Assembly, and was not enacted into law.
Robert T. Johnson (lawyer)
On March 14, 1996, New York City police officer Kevin Gillespie was shot to death in the Bronx, and three men were immediately arrested in his killing. Ex-convict Angel Diaz was named as the gunman. The next day, Republican Governor George Pataki was publicly pressuring Johnson, an opponent of the death penalty, to seek it against Diaz, and threatening to take the case away from Johnson if he refused to do so. Johnson wrote in a letter to Pataki that he wanted the 120 days allotted under New York State law to decide whether or not to seek the death penalty, and threatened to take Pataki to court if he tried to remove him from the case. The following day, Pataki followed through on his threat and removed Johnson from the case, assigning it to Dennis Vacco, the New York State Attorney General. In response, Johnson sued Pataki for jurisdiction over the case.