Boston bomber Tsarnaev sentenced to death

BOSTON, United States – A US jury on Friday sentenced 21-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, one of the worst assaults on American soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

It took the jury more than 14 hours to choose death on six of 17 capital counts for the Muslim former university student of Chechen descent who came to the United States as a child and became a citizen.

Their only other option was life without the possibility of release in America's toughest "super-max" prison in Colorado, which some have dubbed the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."

The same 12-member panel of jurors convicted him on April 8 on all 30 counts relating to the April 15, 2013 bombings, the murder of a police officer, a carjacking and a shootout while on the run.

Three people were killed and 264 others wounded, including 17 who lost limbs, in the twin blasts near the finish line at the northeastern city's popular marathon.

Tsarnaev went on the run and was arrested four days later, hiding and injured in a grounded boat on which he had scrawled a bloody message defending the attacks as a means to avenge US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He showed no emotion as he stood, flanked by female lawyers and wearing a dark blazer with his hands clasped before him as the court clerk declared the death penalty verdict before a hushed room.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the sentence a "fitting punishment."

- Death penalty opposition -
The verdict in the federal case came despite widespread local opposition to capital punishment in Massachusetts, a largely Democratic state that abolished the death penalty in 1947.

Prominent survivors, including the parents of the youngest victim Martin Richard, had also opposed the death penalty on the grounds that years of prospective appeals would dredge up their agony.

Richard's parents were among other victims and survivors who crammed into the courtroom on Friday to hear the verdict.

The jury's 24-page verdict form showed that few on the panel bought into the defense argument that Tsarnaev was influenced by his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, who was shot dead by police on the run.

Only three said he acted under Tamerlan's influence and that Tamerlan planned, led and directed the bombings. Only two determined that Tamerlan shot dead a university police officer while the pair were on the run.

Only one juror determined that he was unlikely to commit or incite acts of violence in the future while serving a life sentence.

The six death counts all relate to the pressure cooker bomber planted by Tsarnaev at the marathon finish line. His brother planted the other.

Judge George O'Toole will now formally sentence Tsarnaev at a hearing expected to be held later in the year.

Government prosecutors delivered a powerful closing statement Wednesday, calling Tsarnaev a remorseless terrorist who deserves to die and declaring that life imprisonment would be the "minimum" punishment.

They said he lived a double life as a pot-smoker enrolled at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and self-radicalized as early as high school, captivated by the teachings of US-Yemen cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

Key was his note justifying the attacks.

"No remorse, no apology. Those are the words of a terrorist convinced he has done the right thing," US assistant attorney Steven Mellin said.

- Tough trial, grim testimony -

Since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, only 79 people have been sentenced to die and only three have been executed, says the Death Penalty Information Center.

Three other death verdicts were turned into life sentences after new trials were granted.

The decision caps a harrowing, more than two-month trial that saw the court relive the horror of the attacks day after day through grisly videos and heartbreaking testimony from those who lost limbs and loved ones.

The attacks shocked the relatively small northeastern city of Boston and revived fears of terrorism in the United States after the September 11, 2001 strikes on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The death verdict is a tough defeat for lead defense attorney Judy Clarke, who has saved some of America's most notorious criminals and convicted terrorists from capital punishment.

She admitted Tsarnaev's guilt from the outset but said he was manipulated into taking part by his more radical elder brother.

Her team deployed dozens of witnesses during a three-week sentencing phase in an attempt to save him from the death penalty.

Tsarnaev "would never have done this but for Tamerlan. The tragedy would never have occurred but for Tamerlan," she said.

She appealed to the jury to consider Tsarnaev's young age, his brother's domineering influence, his parents' return to Russia in 2012, the affection of his friends and teachers, and his apparent remorse.

Clarke portrayed an impressionable youth who was fed Al-Qaeda magazines and lectures by Tamerlan, the true mastermind of the attacks, the ignored younger son of a mentally ill father and an "intimidating," radicalized mother.

Since then, she said, Tsarnaev had expressed genuine remorse during prison visits by a Roman Catholic nun. The jury determined that Tsarnaev had demonstrated a lack of remorse.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Boston bombing jury begins death penalty deliberations

BOSTON, United States - A US jury began deliberations Wednesday on whether to sentence convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death or life in prison for carrying out one of the bloodiest attacks in America since 9/11.

The jury heard closing statements from prosecutors that portrayed Tsarnaev as a remorseless terrorist who deserves to die, and from the defense that he was a "lost kid" manipulated by his radicalized older brother.

They were given lengthy instructions by federal Judge George O'Toole and given less than an hour to deliberate before being dismissed for the day and instructed to return Thursday.

The same jury found the 21-year-old former student guilty last month of carrying out the April 15, 2013 bombings that killed three people and wounded 264 at the finish line of the northeastern city's popular marathon.

The Muslim immigrant, who arrived in the United States with his parents at aged eight and took US citizenship a year before the attacks, was convicted on all 30 counts related to the bombings, and the subsequent murder of a police officer, a carjacking and a shootout while on the run.

His older brother Tamerlan, 26, was shot dead by police, leaving Dzhokhar to stand trial alone after he was captured.

Seventeen of his convictions carry the death penalty, the imposition of which on any single count must be unanimous.

Assistant US attorney Steve Mellin told jurors that Tsarnaev, who sat motionless staring at the table in front of him dressed in a dark blazer, deserved to die for inflicting carnage and terror on society.

"The only sentence that will serve justice in this case is the sentence of death," Mellin said.

The two brothers were equal partners in crime, he said, and Tsarnaev justified the attacks to avenge America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, penned in a bloody note before he was captured in a parked boat.

"No remorse, no apology. Those are the words of a terrorist convinced he has done the right thing. He felt justified in killing, maiming and seriously injuring innocent men, women and children," he said.

Jail would be 'minimum' sentence

The prosecutor recalled harrowing testimony from the loved ones of the dead, including the parents of the youngest victim eight-year-old Martin Richard and stressed the "excruciating" injuries endured by survivors.

Aggravating factors, which jurors will have to determine to award the death penalty, far outweigh 21 mitigating factors advanced by the defense in a bid to secure him life without parole, the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors rubbished any suggestion that America's most maximum security jail, ADX Florence in Colorado, would be a worse punishment than death.

Tsarnaev would be allowed to exercise, study for a college degree, even write a book, get visits, talk on the phone to family and exchange unlimited letters, they said.

Life imprisonment would be the "minimum" sentence the jury could impose, assistant US attorney William Weinreb said.

Judy Clarke, one of America's top anti-death penalty lawyers, delivered a 90-minute closing statement that stressed how Tsarnaev had expressed genuine remorse during prison visits to a famous Catholic nun.

She portrayed an impressionable youth fed Al-Qaeda magazines and lectures by his brother, the true mastermind of the attacks, son of a rootless family life, with a mentally ill father and an "intimidating," radicalized mother.

"Jahar Tsarnaev was not the worst of the worst, and that's what the death penalty is reserved for," said Clarke, using his Americanized name.

Mitigating factors

"Jahar would never have done this but for Tamerlan. The tragedy would never have occurred but for Tamerlan," she said.

Mitigating factors include Tsarnaev's young age -- 19 at the time -- his brother's domineering influence, his parents' return to Russia in 2012, the love and care of his friends, and his reported expression of remorse.

Clarke denied claims her client would enjoy life in "the most rigid, punitive prison in America," said he would not be writing a book and urged the jury not to make him a martyr.

"With either option Jahar Tsarnaev dies in prison. The question is when and how," she said. "There's no punishment, not even a death sentence that can balance the scales."

"I ask you to choose life and impose the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release," she finished.

Jurors have to complete a 24-page verdict form and discuss each sentencing count separately, leaving open the prospect of lengthy deliberations.

If they select the death penalty for just one count, that will be imposed.

"The choice between these very serious alternatives is yours and yours alone to make," O'Toole said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoys outraged over Rolling Stone cover of bombing suspect

NEW YORK CITY -- America usually celebrates the cover of popular magazine, Rolling Stone, when it is graced by great actors, music legends and even the president of the united states.

But the rockstar-like image of suspected terrorist Dzokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone outraged many, including Filipinos in New York City.

“You’re encouraging more crime to happen when people, especially the young ones, see this,” said Cecilia Magsino-Skala.

“He (Tsarnaev) has no place being on the cover of a glamour magazine,” added Susan Apat.

For Rolan Ocampo, who crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon minutes before the bombs exploded, seeing the face of Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone, rubs wounds that are still raw.

“It hurts because the magazine chose to feature this alleged terrorist first. And besides, it’s too soon. The magazine should have featured the victims, their families and the volunteer rescuers — not Tsarnaev,”he said.

Ocampo added that if Tsarnaev was shown on the cover wearing a prison jumpsuit or in handcuffs, it would have come off differently to people.

“Instead, he was made to look like a pretty boy, a rockstar, a celebrity,” he pointed out.

Tsarnaev recently pleaded not guilty to the 30 counts of a federal indictment related to the Boston bombings — which killed three people and injured at least 260 others.

If found guilty, Ocampo believes Tsarnaev doesn’t even deserve the privilege of a quick death sentence.

“I would rather he get a life sentence, without the possibility of parole. He should rot in jail,” said Ocampo.

Big pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens, as well as stores like Stop and Shop and Tadeschi food shops have announced their refusal to sell the August issues of Rolling Stone.

In a statement, Rolling Stone said that while their hearts go out to the victims, they also felt it was important to gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens and how a charming kid with a bright future became a monster.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com