U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday that they will no longer seek the death penalty for a Minnesota man already on death row but awaiting resentencing for the kidnapping and killing of college student Dru Sjodin in 2003—a case that led to changes in sex offender registration laws.
U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider in North Dakota filed a notice with the court withdrawing his effort to seek the death penalty for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.—a move he told The Associated Press he had to make after he was “straightforwardly directed by” Attorney General Merrick Garland to do so.
