CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – A judge has denied a request by Brandon Council for a new trial, according to court documents.
Council was sentenced to death in October for the murder of two CresCom Bank employees during a bank robbery in 2017.
Council and his attorney argued that he deserves a new sentencing trial. However, the judge disagreed and that Council’s rights under the 5th and 8th amendment rights were not violated.
In November News13 reported that Council had filed the motion asking for a new sentencing trial or acquittal based on contradictory statements regarding Council’s motives.
There are currently 84 people sentenced to death on the federal level in the United States, according to Robert Dunham, Executive Director of Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. Of these, 61 have active death sentences, but only three federal executions have taken place. These three executions were in 2002 and 2003.
Dunham also told News13 Council’s federal death sentence is the first this year in the United States.