A federal grand jury returned a 48-count indictment against Cooper last month, charging him with racketeering, murder and other offenses in a series of crimes culminating in the July 1997 slayings of three employees at the Starbucks coffee shop at 1810 Wisconsin Ave. NW. By pursuing the federal indictment, prosecutors cleared the way to seek the death penalty against Cooper, who has been in custody since March. D.C. law does not provide for the death penalty, but federal law does.