Did marathon bomber get fair trial? Court weighs arguments

BOSTON — The Boston Marathon bomber’s lawyers urged a federal court to overturn their client’s death sentence, arguing Thursday that intense media coverage and signs of juror bias led to an unfair trial.

The three-judge panel didn’t render a decision after hearing from both sides for about an hour each.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — who was convicted of all 30 charges against him stemming from the April 15, 2013, attack, including conspiracy and use of a weapon of mass destruction — didn’t attend the hearing. Tsarnaev, now 26, is in a supermax prison in Colorado.

Tsarnaev’s lawyer Daniel Habib argued the trial should have been held in another city because of intense local media coverage and the emotional toll the attack had on the region.

The appellate judges focused most of their attention on questions surrounding two jurors who were allowed to remain on the case by Judge George O’Toole, even after defense lawyers uncovered social media posts suggesting they harbored strong opinions.

In one instance, a juror published two dozen tweets after the bombings, including retweeting one after Tsarnaev’s arrest that read: “Congratulations to all of the law enforcement professionals who worked so hard and went through hell to bring in that piece of garbage.”

Another juror posted on Facebook as he was going through the jury selection process. His friends encouraged him to “play the part” in order to get on the jury and make sure Tsarnaev was convicted.