Jurors in the Boston Marathon bombing trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are set to begin deliberations after prosecutors and defense lawyers told them Tsarnaev must be held accountable for participating in the attack.
Deliberations were expected to begin yesterday morning, almost two years after twin bombs exploded near the marathon’s finish line on April 15, 2013, killing three people and wounding more than 260.
During closing arguments on Monday, defense lawyers agreed with prosecutors that Tsarnaev conspired with his brother to bomb the marathon and planted one of two pressure-cooker bombs that exploded that day.
Image: Reuters / Jane Flavell Collins
However, the defense said it was his slain older brother, Tamerlan, who was the attack’s mastermind.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev bought the bomb parts, built the bombs and planned the attack, defense attorney Judy Clarke said.
“If not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened,” Clarke said.
A prosecutor told the jury that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made a “cold-blooded decision” aimed at punishing the US for its wars in Muslim nations.
“This was a cold, calculated terrorist act. This was intentional. It was bloodthirsty. It was to make a point,” prosecutor Aloke Chakravarty said. “It was to tell America: ‘We will not be terrorized by you anymore. We will terrorize you.’”
Clarke said that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fell under the influence of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Clarke repeatedly referred to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — then 19 years old — as a “kid” and a “teenager.”
Prosecutors used their closing to remind the jury of the horror of that day, showing photographs and video of the carnage and chaos after the shrapnel-packed pressure cooker bombs exploded.
In one video, jurors could hear the agonizing screams of Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager who bled to death on the sidewalk. Another woman and an eight-year-old boy were also killed.
Taking aim at the argument that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was led astray by his older brother, Chakravarty repeatedly referred to the Tsarnaevs as “a team” and “partners” in the attack.
“That day, they felt they were soldiers. They were the mujahidin, and they were bringing their battle to Boston,” the prosecutor said.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, aged 26, died four days after the bombings after he was shot by the police and run over by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during a getaway attempt.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured hours later hiding in a dry-docked boat.
If Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is convicted — and that is considered a near certainty, given his lawyer’s admission — the jury will then begin hearing evidence on whether he should get life in prison or a death sentence.
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