Skip to footer

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lawyers: Boston Marathon bombing trial moving too quickly

The lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Monday asked a federal judge for more time to prepare a case against the death penalty.

|
Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters/File
This photograph of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, is seen on his page of Russian social networking site Vkontakte (VK).

| Boston

The lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared in court without their client Monday and asked for more time to prepare a case against the potential use of the death penalty.

Defense attorney Judy Clarke said the prosecution had not presented the defense with all of the evidence it plans to use in the case, making it difficult for the defense to create a solid argument against the death penalty.

Assistant US Attorney William Weinreb countered, saying “six months is a reasonable time” to make a case.

Prosecutors plan to make a recommendation about whether or not to seek the death penalty to the US attorney general by Oct. 31. After the prosecution files its recommendation, Attorney General Eric Holder will have 90 days to make a final decision.

The death penalty is not allowed in Massachusetts, but because the trial is taking place in federal court, the death penalty is an option.

US District Judge George O’Toole said he will review requests that some documents in the case be filed under seal, which would make them inaccessible to the public. Initial charges against Tsarnaev were filed under seal, and other documents, such as medical records could be kept under seal if Judge O'Toole allows it.

Mr. Tsarnaev is accused of exploding a homemade pressure cooker bomb with his brother, Tamerlan, at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three, and injuring over 260 people. He is also charged with killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, Sean Collier, when he and his brother were trying to get the officer’s gun. Tamerlan was later killed amid a gun battle with police.

Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen, was eventually found, seriously wounded, in a boat in which he scrawled a note accusing the US government of "killing our innocent civilians," according to prosecutors. Authorities also say he wrote: "We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all," according to a report by the AP. 

Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to all charges during his arraignment on July 10.

The government expects to call 80 to 100 witnesses, according to the arraignment transcript.

Three of Tsarnaev’s friends appeared in court on Sept. 13, and pleaded not guilty to charges of impeding the federal investigation into the bombings. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lawyers: Boston Marathon bombing trial moving too quickly
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/0923/Dzhokhar-Tsarnaev-lawyers-Boston-Marathon-bombing-trial-moving-too-quickly
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe