On April 15th 2013 (15/4/13) twin bombs exploded at finishing line of the Boston Marathon, Massachusetts, US killing three. Following a four day manhunt across Boston and the surrounding area in which a police officer was killed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested for the bombings and associated offences. Today the first phase of Tsarnaev's trial concluded.
This has always been a bit of a strange trial because before it began Tsarnaev's defence team indicated that he would be happy to plead guilty to all charges provided the death penalty was taken off the table as a possible punishment. The prosecution refused to do this.
As a result the trial has simply been the prosecution laying in forensic detail how the bombings were planned, how they were carried out and what happened in the aftermath while the defence nodded in agreement. This means that rather then being a trial it was actually more of an inquest which those affected by an incident like this often find quite useful as part of the healing process.
Due to the speed at which the verdict has been reached I've not been able to research all 30 charges in detail however they generally fit into three main groups. The first of these are the most serious Federal charges for terrorism offences such as using a weapon of mass destruction. The second group are accessory charges to the main Federal charges. Essentially this means that you assisted the person who carried out the offences but did not directly participate. The third group of charges are local offences such as using a firearm in the commission of a robbery that Courts in Boston deal with every day. As Massachusetts do not use the death penalty that third group of charges do not carry the death penalty.
What Tsarnaev's defence team have been trying to do is avoid the first group of charges by arguing that although Dzhokhar Tsarnaev participated in the crime he did so under the influence of his older brother Tamerlan who was killed during the manhunt. This would make him an accessory only guilty of the second group of offences and would count as a substantial mitigating factor in how he was sentenced meaning that the death penalty would not be used. There was already an acceptance that he was going to prison for the third group of charges.
It would appear that this defence strategy has failed with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev being found guilty of all 30 offences. This means that the trial will now progress to a death penalty phase in which the same jury will decide whether to impose the death penalty or impose life imprisonment instead.
I must say that I'm not really bothered one way or the other whether the death penalty is used. That is because it will take years if not decades before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is actually executed. Due to the high profile, internationally political nature of the crime I suspect the Federal government are going to have some fun with him in the meantime. To me it's really just a question of whether he'll be held in a state prison with local links or whether the situation is best managed in a Federal prison.
19:05 on 8/4/15 (UK date).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment