Death penalty sought in Boston bombs
Prosecutors contend accused ‘betrayed his allegiance’ to U.S.
BOSTON — Federal prosecutors Thursday announced they’ll seek the death penalty against 20-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the Boston Marathon bombing, accusing him of betraying his adopted country by ruthlessly carrying out a terrorist attack calculated to cause maximum carnage.
The decision by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had been widely expected.
The twin blasts last April killed three people and wounded more than 260. At least 16 of those lost limbs.
Seventeen of the 30 federal charges against Tsarnaev — including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill — carry the possibility of the death penalty.
“The nature of the conduct at issue and the resultant harm compel this decision,” Holder said in a statement that instantly raised the stakes in one of Boston’s most wrenching criminal cases.
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set.
In a notice of intent filed in court, federal prosecutors in Boston listed factors they contend justify a sentence of death against Tsarnaev, who moved to the U.S. from Russia about a decade ago.
“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received asylum from the United States; obtained citizenship and enjoyed the freedoms of a United States citizen; and then betrayed his allegiance to the United States by killing and maiming people in the United States,” read the notice filed by U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.
Prosecutors also cited Tsarnaev’s “lack of remorse” and allegations that he killed a police officer as well as an eight-year-old boy — a “particularly vulnerable” victim. They added that Tsarnaev committed the killings after “substantial planning and premeditation.”
And they cited his alleged decision to target the Boston Marathon, “an iconic event that draws large crowds of men, women and children to its final stretch, making it especially susceptible” to terrorism.
‘Tsarnaev ... enjoyed the freedoms of a U.S. citizen’ CARMEN ORTIZ, U.S . ATTORNEY
Tsarnaev’s lawyers had no immediate comment.
Prosecutors allege that Tsarnaev, then 19, and his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, ethnic Chechens from Russia, built and planted two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the race in retaliation for U.S. military actions in Muslim countries.
Tamerlan died in a shootout with police during a getaway attempt days after the bombing. Dzhokhar was wounded but escaped and was later captured as he hid in a boat parked in a suburban yard.
Well before the attorney general’s decision, Tsarnaev’s defence team added Judy Clarke, one of the country’s foremost death penalty specialists. The San Diego lawyer negotiated plea agreements that saved the lives of the Unabomber and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.
Legal expert shave said court filings suggest the defence may try to save Tsarnaev’s life by arguing he fell under his brother’s influence.
Massachusetts abolished its state death penalty in 1984, and repeated attempts to reinstate it have failed in the Legislature.
A Boston Globe poll conducted in September found that 57 per cent of those questioned favoured a life sentence for Tsarnaev, compared with 33-per-cent support for the death penalty in his case.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which opposes the death penalty in all cases, objected to Holder’s decision.
“After the horrible marathon attack, this community rallied around the slogan ‘Boston Strong,’” executive director Carol Rose said. “Even — and especially — in a case like this, that means not letting terrorists or anyone else shake us from staying true to our values.”
Since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, 70 death sentences have been imposed, but only three people have been executed, including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in 2001.