They deliberated for 9 days in the penalty phase. There was no mistake; it was merely that the appeals court judges were looking for a way to void the death penalty, and by combing through the record, they found a phrase they could claim to be dubious. They can do that no matter what; if it hadn’t been that phrase, it would have been something else, equally unimportant and meaningless. But it would have been enough to give the judges cover for overturning the decision, which was their intention from the very start.
The death penalty is extremely rare in New York, at least partly because appeals court judges are determined not to let it happen. And criminals get the message that somebody is always going to be out there to save their hides at the last moment, and the fact that they have killed innocent people doesn’t matter, because innocent life is not valued.
You got to consider this was a green prosecution team when it came to this kind of affair. If as stated New York virtually never did this as a matter of policy, then when it finally got around to it is it surprising if it did it wrong?
You claim “no mistake” but nobody has shown us what the statements that came into question were that managed to get two appeals judges to shake their heads, or dug up backgrounds to show that we are looking at two Kagans in those robes, or whatever. Nothing but your, and the news article’s, bald assertions. I am skeptical about anything that comes in that form, no matter what political cause it seems to favor.