Lawyers for Teresa Youngblut, the Washington-state woman accused of killing U.S. Border Patrol agent David Maland during a 20 Jan. traffic stop in Vermont, have asked a federal judge for at least a six-month extension on the government’s decision about whether to seek the death penalty. In a motion filed late Monday, the defense said prosecutors have imposed a 28 July deadline for presenting mitigating evidence—far earlier than the 14-month average in capital cases—and argued that the compressed schedule would make their submission “a near-pointless formality.” Youngblut, 28, is linked to the cultlike Zizian group, which authorities associate with six slayings in three states. She is currently charged with using and discharging a firearm during an assault on law-enforcement officers; no capital-eligible indictment has yet been returned. Maland was fatally shot after agents stopped Youngblut’s Prius near the Canadian border; Youngblut was wounded, and her companion Felix Bauckholt was killed when agents returned fire. Attorney General Pam Bondi has cited Maland’s death as a test case for the Trump administration’s renewed push to pursue capital punishment, a stance announced after the president lifted the federal execution moratorium on Inauguration Day. Youngblut’s attorneys say late changes to her legal team and a nationwide shortage of qualified death-penalty counsel further justify delaying any decision until at least 30 Jan. 2026. The Justice Department has not responded publicly to the request.