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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

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21 Apr, 2015

Penalty phase begins

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The penalty phase in the Tsarnaev trial begins with jurors deliberating life without parole or death by lethal injection. Victims of the 2013 bombing are divided over the sentencing options. Harvard Law School professor, Nancy Gertner predicts:

He’s going to be on death row for decades. There will be multiple appeals. Looking at it realistically, he’s going to die in prison one way or the other.

10 Mar, 2015

Boat note

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bostonevidenceJurors are shown photographs of a blood-stained, hand-scrawled note written in pencil and  speckled with bullet holes inside the boat Tsarnaev was captured in. Tsarnaev appears to decry U.S. actions in Muslim countries and says he is jealous of his brother because he is dead and now in paradise. Prosecutors consider the note a confession and say it refers to the motive for the attack.

I do not mourn because his soul is very much alive. God has a plan for each person. Mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions…The U.S. Government is killing our innocent civilians but most of you already know that. As a M (bullet hole) I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished, we Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all…Now I don’t like killing innocent people it is forbidden in Islam but due to said (bullet hole) it is allowed.

During cross-examination of a bomb technician who investigated the scene, Tsarnaev’s lawyers established that all the bullet holes were from shots coming into the boat when police fired. The officer said no bombs, guns or weapons of any kind were found inside the boat.

3 Mar, 2015

Jury seated

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A panel of twelve jurors and six alternates are chosen for Tsarnaev’s federal death penalty trial. Eight men and ten women make up the panel of jurors and alternates. Many potential jurors are dismissed after they stated they had already formed an opinion on Tsarnaev’s guilt or that they are morally opposed to the death penalty. Many others are excused because of their personal connections to the bombings: they have friends or family who were near the finish line when the bombs went off or they knew first responders who treated the victims.

21 Jul, 2014

Bombing suspect’s friend guilty

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Azamat Tazhayakov is found guilty of conspiracy and faces up to 25 years in prison for removing a backpack from bombing suspect Tsarnaev’s room at a college dorm. Tazhayakov’s mother sobs loudly in the courtroom as the jury’s decision is read. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin said Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev, another friend of Tsarnev, removed the backpack after the FBI released images of Tsarnaev and his brother as suspects in the 2013 marathon attack. Tazhayakov’s attorney Matthew Myers:

We understand that the judge is under a certain amount of pressure in the case to put it to this defendant because of the backdrop of the case.