I may have missed it, but it seems that no one came up with the right answer — only Pontius Pilate could give the death sentence, and he in fact did do just that. The High Priests Council could not carry out the death sentence under Roman rule. It was somewhat lucky (for Pilate) that the flogging itself did not kill Jesus — there were 302 different whip marks on Jesus, if you believe the Shroud of Turin was in fact Jesus’ burial shroud (which I do). It was so brutal that Pilate was quoted in the Gospel as being surprised that Jesus had died so quickly on the Cross.
Not to mention having to carry his own cross under extreme exhaustion and duress from the city to the Calvary...