Tag: dzokhar tsarnaev
Boston Bombing Trial Set To Open

Boston Bombing Trial Set To Open

Boston (AFP) – The trial of the only suspect in the Boston bombings begins Monday with jury selection, 20 months after the attack that turned the city’s annual marathon into a scene of carnage.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, a young Muslim of Chechen origin, faces the death penalty for the bombing that was the worst act of terror on U.S. soil since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Tsarnaev must be present in federal court in Boston for the beginning of the trial process.

Two bombs placed near the end of the Boston marathon and detonated 12 seconds apart, allegedly by Tsarnaev and his brother, killed three people and wounded 264 on April 15, 2013.

The trial is expected to last at least three months and it will likely revive painful memories for the city’s residents.

Some who were victims of the attack have vowed to attend every day of the trial, others are more reluctant to relive the scarring experience.

Some people have even refused to even look at Tsarnaev, who arrived to the Boston area with his family eight years ago and was naturalized a U.S. citizen in 2012.

Tsarnaev will appear alone at trial. His older brother Tamerlan, 26, was killed in a confrontation with police days after the attacks. It may be Tamerlan who the defense tries to paint as the mastermind behind the plot.

After a manhunt that included thousands of police, Dzhokhar was arrested a few hours after the death of his brother. He was seriously injured and hiding in a boat in a Boston suburb.

The jury selection that begins Monday is expected to last at least two weeks and 1,200 people have been summoned for the process.

Groups of about 250 people will be brought in beginning Monday and ending Wednesday to answer questions about trial issues. Attorneys will then study these answers to begin the process of elimination that will result in a group of 12 jurors and six alternates.

The prosecution will be one of the most important for the government since the Timothy McVeigh bombing trial in 1997 that ended in a death sentence.

Tsarnaev will be defended by a team of five lawyers, including Judy Clarke, an expert in death penalty cases who has helped spare her clients from capital punishment numerous times.

Tsarnaev has been held in near-solitary confinement in federal prison outside of Boston. He has made two appearances since his arrest.

Tsarnaev appeared in a courtroom in 2013 to plead not guilty to the 30 charges against him, including using a weapon of mass destruction. He also appeared last month for a pre-trial hearing.

According to the indictment, the government believes the Tsarnaev brothers acted alone. The government portrays them as radicalized lone wolves, who learned how to make bombs from an Al-Qaeda publication online.

A message inside the boat where Tsarnaev was found after the manhunt offers a glimpse into the possible motive behind the crime:

“The U.S. government is killing our innocent civilians… We Muslims are one body… Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop,” it read.

AFP Photo/Don Emmert

Dzhohkar Tsarnaev Appears In Court; No Outward Signs Of Plea Deal

Dzhohkar Tsarnaev Appears In Court; No Outward Signs Of Plea Deal

By Richard A. Serrano, Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhohkar Tsarnaev appeared in U.S. court Thursday for the first time in a year and a half as a federal judge held a final hearing to discuss last-minute issues before the trial begins Jan. 5.

For the second time, the defense asked Judge George O’Toole Jr. to move the trial out of Boston, saying negative publicity in the area would make it impossible for Tsarnaev to receive a fair trial. The defense also asked the judge to order an investigation into alleged government leaks in the case. O’Toole made no rulings but signaled he will issue formal orders later.

Security was tight around the courthouse as Tsarnaev arrived and during the brief hearing. Defense lawyers and government prosecutors also discussed jury questionnaires and other trial-related arrangements.

At one point during the hearing, the mother-in-law of a Tsarnaev friend who was shot to death by an FBI agent in Florida shouted out her support for the defendant, according to ABC News. Elena Teyer, whose son Ibragim Todashev was killed in Florida after allegedly attacking an FBI agent during an interview, said she told Tsarnaev in Russian: “We prayed for you. Be strong, my son. We know you are innocent.”

Some 1,200 potential jurors will be called to the courthouse, and jury selection alone could last a month. Tsarnaev faces 30 charges in the April 2013 attack that killed three people dead and injured another 260.

The government is seeking the death penalty.

There were no outward signs of a plea agreement, which some had expected. Nearly 90 percent of the case is sealed, making it virtually impossible to determine which side – the defense or the government – has prevailed in nearly two years of pre-trial skirmishes.

AFP Photo

Continued Strict Prison Conditions Urged For Boston Bombing Suspect

Continued Strict Prison Conditions Urged For Boston Bombing Suspect

By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times

BOSTON — Despite the presence of an FBI agent in the room, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev made a “statement to his detriment” while his sister was visiting him in prison, federal prosecutors say.

Prosecutors revealed the incident in a filing Friday that argued that special rules governing Tsarnaev’s prison conditions should remain in place. The rules, called special administrative measures, limit who can communicate with Tsarnaev, allows the government to be present while certain people visit him, and place restrictions on who his defense team can share information with. Such measures are sometimes used in terrorism cases in which authorities believe that the defendant could cause bodily injury to others through his contact with others.

Tsarnaev is accused of carrying out the twin April 15, 2013, bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon that killed three and wounded 260. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has said he will seek the death penalty for Tsarnaev, whose trial will begin Nov. 3.

In the filing, prosecutors argue that the restrictions are necessary to protect people against the risk of violence or terrorism.

Government prosecutors had previously submitted briefs in which they argued that writings found in the Watertown, Mass., boat where Tsarnaev took refuge show “an avowed wish to incite others to engage in violent jihad.”

Tsarnaev’s attorneys have argued that the measures are “unlawful and unwarranted” and violate his rights. The measures “gravely impair the ability of counsel to provide effective assistance to Mr. Tsarnaev,” the defense argued in court filings.

Tsarnaev has had two social visits since being in prison, Friday’s filing said. As part of the measures, an FBI agent was present during these visits. During the second visit, from Tsarnaev’s sisters, an investigator for the defense team was also present. At one point during the visit, the investigator began explaining the rationale between the special measures to Tsanaev’s sister, the filing said. Part of her comment regarded restrictions on providing information to third parties outside of prison, and Tsarnaev “made a comment in return,” the filing said.

The government believes that Tsarnaev’s lawyers have moved to lift the special administrative measures in part because of that comment.

“The motion has nothing to do with the (special measures) and everything to do with the fact that Tsarnaev, despite the presence of an FBI agent and an employee of the federal public defender, was unable to temper his remarks and made a statement to his detriment which was overhead by the agent,” the filing said.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers say their request to lift the measures has nothing to do with his comment. They also requested that he be allowed to meet with visitors without law enforcement present. The government also argued against this request.

“The suggestion that the defense and visitors be allowed to meet with Tsarnaev without monitoring by law enforcement would, in effect, allow Tsarnaev far greater freedom than the general population of inmates who are subject to the (Bureau of Prisons) regulations,” the government said.

Also late Friday, defense lawyers asked that multiple charges against Tsarnaev be dismissed, arguing that the number of charges “appears designed to put a thumb on the scales of justice in favor of the death penalty.” Tsarnaev is facing 30 federal charges, more than half of which carry the death penalty.

Preparations are being made for this year’s Boston Marathon, which will be held April 21. The Boston Athletic Association said earlier this week that backpacks and bags would be banned from the race’s starting and finish lines and along the 26.2-mile course.

AFP photo