Federal prosecutors yesterday took over a state case in the Staten Island murders of two detectives in what critics are calling the latest attempt to federalize a criminal case to make it eligible for the death penalty.

Ronell Wilson, 22, was arraigned at Brooklyn federal court yesterday for the execution-style slaying of undercover detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin on March 10, 2003, as well as a slew of charges including robbery, conspiracy, and racketeering. Four accomplices are being charged in connection with the case, though Mr. Wilson is the sole defendant who could face death if convicted.

“Wilson pulled the trigger and shot each man in the back of the head in cold blood, after concluding that they were undercover cops,” said the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, Roslynn Mauskopf.

The defendants were originally charged at Richmond County Supreme Court but were unlikely to face the death penalty if convicted under state law. The state Court of Appeals ruled on June 24 that the death penalty is unconstitutional, a ruling that has been superseded by federal prosecutors.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly applauded the move by federal prosecutors. “If anyone ever needed justification for the death penalty, this case is it,” said Mr. Kelly. “Anyone who is responsible for the cold-blooded assassination of a police officer should forfeit his life.”

Likewise, Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan applauded the role of federal prosecutors in seeking a penalty that is beyond the reach of the state.

“The ability to seek the death penalty under federal charges is a tool that is available to prosecutors in every state, not just New York,” said Mr. Donovan. “As the chief law enforcement official in this borough, I have a responsibility to use every tool at my disposal to protect the people of Staten Island. I will not hesitate to seek federal charges where appropriate.”

The senior associate dean for academic affairs at Duke University School of Law, Jim Coleman, disagreed, saying, “I think it is inappropriate for the federal government to federalize the death penalty for the sole purpose of seeking the death penalty in what is essentially a state-based criminal case.”

The attorney for the accused triggerman, Ephraim Savitt, decried federal intervention as “death penalty politics at its worst.” Mr. Savitt said there is “something wrong” with state prosecutors seeking intervention for federal prosecutors to seek a death penalty.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., said the federal arraignments are the latest result of Attorney General Ashcroft’s aggressive pursuit of death penalty cases in non-eligible states like New York.

“The Justice Department was severely criticized because death penalty cases were coming from just a few areas and not around the country,” said Mr. Dieter. “John Ashcroft’s way of handling this was to pursue death-penalty cases in states that otherwise don’t have the death penalty.”

Mr. Wilson, Michael Whitten, 21, Paris Bullock, 22, and Jamal Brown, 22, pleaded not guilty at their federal arraignment yesterday and were ordered held without bail by U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis. Another defendant, Angel Rodriguez, 22, was not in court because of a chicken pox quarantine that occurred during incarceration.

The defendants’ role as members of the Stapleton Crew proved instrumental in making them eligible for prosecution under the RICO statute, which applies to participants in organized crime, such as gangs and the Mafia. Based at North Shore housing projects, the Stapleton Crew allegedly specialized in drug dealing and gun running.

David Kaczynski, executive director of Albany-based New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty (and the brother of Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber), criticized the use of the RICO statute in the case.

“The law is not intended to be results-oriented,” said Mr. Kaczynski.

New York has no facilities to execute death-row inmates, and Ms. Mauskopf said she did not know where Mr. Wilson would be executed if convicted.

Mr. Dieter said the federal judge in a death-penalty case could pick the state where the execution is to occur. In the federal case of Massachusetts killer Gary Sampson, for example, the judge selected death penalty state New Hampshire, said Mr. Dieter.