In 2015, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death for his role in the Boston Marathon bombings after an emotionally grueling trial than lasted more than three months, including two months of jury selection. But now the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out that sentence, finding that the judge who oversaw the case did not adequately screen jurors for potential biases.
The court noted the “pervasive” media coverage in the case featuring “bone-chilling still shots and videos” of the bombings and a multi-day manhunt, and said the trial judge failed to run a jury selection process that was “sufficient to identify prejudice.”
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Instead, the judge concluded that jurors who had already formed the opinion that Tsarnaev was guilty were qualified because they stated they could still decide the matter based on the evidence, and failed sufficiently to dig into what the jury had read or heard about the case.
To support its assertions that jurors were inadequately vetted, the defense had put forth social media postings from two jurors. One apparently referred to the defendant on Twitter as “a piece of garbage,” while another exchanged Facebook messages with a friend who encouraged him to “get on the jury” and send Tsarnaev to jail, where he could be “taken care of.”
Now, U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling will have to decide whether the government will again seek to put Tsarnaev to death.
At the time of the original trial, Lawyers Weekly urged then-U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz not to seek the death penalty, noting that Massachusetts was one of 18 states (plus the District of Columbia) that had abolished capital punishment. (There are now 20 states that have eliminated the death penalty.)
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The situation in Massachusetts remains unchanged. The last execution here occurred more than 60 years ago, and the state has reaffirmed the decision to reject the death penalty on more than one occasion.
Greater Boston is now facing a retrial of the penalty phase. There will be significant emotional and monetary costs, as the victims are forced to relive the anguish of the days following the Marathon bombings.
This time, in addition to the large number of state residents who were personally impacted by the bombings and the manhunt that followed, the years of media coverage along with the first death penalty finding will make it even more difficult to put together a group of jurors that have not yet made up their minds on what the appropriate sentence should be.
And to further complicate matters, the 1st Circuit’s opinion did not give much specific guidance on how a trial judge should probe whether prospective jurors have communicated on social media about the case.
Finally, the reality is that if Tsarnaev is sentenced to death again, there will be another appeal, and potentially another reversal of his sentence.
It’s true there are mixed opinions from the victims on what penalty is appropriate. While Bill and Denise Richards, whose 8-year-old son was killed in the bombings and whose young daughter was seriously injured, indicated at the time of the original trial that they would prefer the Department of Justice not seek the death penalty, others, including the mother of victim Krystle Campbell, have made clear they want capital punishment imposed here.
But while the wishes of those most directly impacted by Tsarnaev’s crimes are obviously relevant, prosecutorial decisions are not left up to the victims. And it’s important to note that the 1st Circuit promised in its opinion that there was no question of revisiting the issue of guilt, saying, “make no mistake: [the defendant] will spend his remaining days locked up in prison.”
Five years ago, the DOJ made the decision to seek the death penalty. Now, after all the emotional and financial cost that decision exacted, we are right back where we started. Lelling should forgo a second death penalty trial in this case.
Source: masslawyersweekly.com, Staff, August 6, 2020
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde