 |
| Dzhokhar Tsarnaev |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has a range of legal options in the Boston Marathon bombings, and they could include seeking the death penalty against the 19-year-old suspect in the case.
The administration has indicated it intends to move quickly to build a criminal case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. But investigators plan to first question him without informing him of his legal rights to remain silent and have an attorney present.
He has yet to be charged but prosecutors appear to have no shortage of federal laws at their disposal.
The most serious charge would be the use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, which carries a possible death sentence. Three people died in the twin explosions in Boston and more than 180 were injured.
Massachusetts does not have the death penalty, and it remains to be seen whether the administration would try to persuade a jury to sentence Tsarnaev to death.
An early question that arose after Tsarnaev’s capture Friday was how to conduct his initial interrogation.
The administration said it would not immediately inform him of legal protections known as the Miranda rights. Instead, prosecutors planned to invoke a public safety exception created by the need to protect police and the public from immediate danger.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s executive director, Anthony Romero, said the exception applies only when there’s a continued threat to public safety, like whether there is imminent danger from other bombs, and is “not an open-ended exception” to the Miranda rule.
Source: CBS Boston, April 20, 2013
