Federal prosecutors said Monday they need another month to decide whether to ask an appeals court to reconsider its decision to throw out the death sentence against Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The Justice Department has asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to give prosecutors until Sept. 14 to file a petition asking the full court to hear the case. The current deadline to file a petition expires Friday.
“The process of determining whether to seek further review takes time, particularly in a case of this magnitude, because it requires input from various components within the Department of Justice. Additional time is needed to make the decision in this case,” DOJ attorney William Glaser wrote in a court filing.
The solicitor general will decide on the extension, according to Glaser. Tsarnaev’s lawyers did not object, according to the filing.
Prosecutors could be buying time to appeal directly to the Supreme Court, where they are likely to earn a favorable ruling faster. Legal expert Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center said last week the high court “has been much more pro-prosecution.”
A jury convicted Tsarnaev in 2015 on 30 counts, including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a public place, for the 2013 bombing that killed three people and injured 260 more — something his lawyers did not debate. Tsarnaev was subsequently sentenced to death.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court last month threw out Tsarnaev’s death sentence, saying a district court judge erred when he did not adequately screen jurors for potential biases and ordered a new penalty-phase trial with a new jury that will determine whether or not Tsarnaev should be executed.
The judges’ decision upheld the majority of charges, ensuring the 27-year-old will be behind bars for life whether or not prosecutors pursue the death penalty again.
Source: bostonherald.com, Erin Tiernan, August 10, 2020
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