US EditionDA Will Seek Death Penalty at Half Moon Bay Mass Shooting Trial
- In 2023, the District Attorney of San Mateo County, Stephen Wagstaffe, announced his intention to pursue the death penalty against 68-year-old Chunli Zhao in connection with a mass shooting that occurred in Half Moon Bay in January.
- The shooting occurred after a workplace dispute allegedly involving a $100 damage charge and resulted in seven deaths and one injury at two mushroom farms.
- Zhao has been charged with multiple murders, specifically seven counts, along with one count of attempted murder, and he has entered a plea of not guilty while a court-imposed gag order limits the DA’s ability to discuss the case.
- Since California's last execution in 2006, Governor Newsom imposed a moratorium in 2019, making the death penalty mostly symbolic despite Wagstaffe’s support for pursuing it.
- This is San Mateo County’s first death penalty case in over 15 years, reflecting a cautious return to capital punishment despite public opposition and legal complexities.
11 Articles
11 Articles
DA to seek death penalty against man accused of killing 7 Northern California farmworkers
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe will seek the death penalty against the man accused of gunning down seven Half Moon Bay mushroom farmworkers in the county’s deadliest mass shooting on record. The decision, announced at a court hearing Tuesday, ends months of debate within Wagstaffe’s office over whether 68-year-old Chunli Zhao should face the possibility of death at his still-to-be-scheduled murder trial. Death penalty cases a…
District attorney seeks death penalty in Half Moon Bay mass shooting prosecution
San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing seven people and injuring another in a mass shooting in Half Moon Bay in January 2023.
Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Half Moon Bay Shooting Suspect, Though He Likely Won’t Be Executed
The San Mateo County District Attorney said in court Tuesday that he’s seeking the death penalty for accused Half Moon Bay mass shooter Chunli Zhao, though this is mostly a symbolic move. When that Half Moon Bay mass shooting in January 2023 took the lives of seven people and injured an eighth person, the legal proceedings against suspected shooter Chunli Zhao started right away. And now two-and-a-half years later, those courtroom proceedings ar…
Kron 4 News
MSNDA will seek death penalty at Half Moon Bay mass shooting trial
(KRON) -- The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office announced prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Half Moon Bay mass shooting suspect Chunli Zhao. Zhao, 68, of Half Moon Bay, appeared in court on Tuesday and learned that his upcoming trial will be a capital murder case. Prosecutors' announcement marks the first time in recent history that a district attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area sought the death penalty. San Mateo Coun…
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