USA | Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Is Trying to Get off Death Row

"The box of the box of the box of the box": Standard cell, ADX Florence

In December 2019, Dzhokhar’s lawyers argued that the 26-year-old’s death penalty sentence should be overturned on the grounds that their client didn’t receive a fair trial.

The appeal states that the trial should not have been held in Boston due to intense media coverage surrounding the case and claims there were multiple errors in jury selection.

The former nursing student’s legal team also asserted that the judge improperly excluded evidence demonstrating that Tamerlan was the clear mastermind behind the bombings and Dzhokhar had acted under his influence.

The appeal process could take years and effectively stall any plans for an execution. But according to Bob Hood, the former warden of the prison where Dzhokhar is being held, life in solitary confinement is far worse than death.

“If you really look for punishment and retribution, you’re better off with him going to the supermax for the rest of his life,” he told the Boston Herald following Dzhokhar’s appeal. “It’s way worse than getting a needle in the arm and expiring within minutes.”

Hood revealed the bomber spends 23 hours a day in a 7-by-12-foot cell that contains a cement bed, desk, stool, metal toilet/sink, and a shower. “Trust me, he is going in the box of the box of the box of the box,” the longtime correctional officer shared. “It’s not designed for humanity.”

Even if his sentence is downgraded to life in prison, Hood said it’s unlikely Dzhokhar would ever be transferred to a different facility. “He’d be dead in 24 hours,” the retired U.S. Department of Justice employee stated.

“The nature of his offense hits home with all the inmates, and there will always be someone out there who would love to smack this kid in the head. No one’s going to forget the marathon bomber.”

[On June 25, 2015, D. Tsarnaev was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Florence High in Colorado; as of July 17, he had been transferred to ADX Florence. A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson stated that "unique security management requirements" caused the agency to place Tsarnaev in Colorado instead of United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana, where male death-row inmates are normally held. - Wikipedia]

Source: newslagoon.com, Staff, July 4, 2020

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