The Latest on Boston Marathon trial: ‘The jury has spoken’
May 15, 2015, 2:36 PM
Defense attorneys Judy Clarke, left, and Timothy Watkins walk away from the Moakley Federal Court Friday, May 15, 2015, in Boston, after the U.S. Attorney's office announced that there was a verdict in the penalty phase of the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Friday, May 15, 2015. The federal jury must decide whether the 21-year-old Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death or life in prison for his role in the deadly attack in 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
5:25 p.m.
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz says Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) will pay for his crimes with the death sentence he received.
Ortiz spoke at a news conference Friday, hours after a jury decided that Tsarnaev would be put to death for the bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
She says, “Today the jury has spoken. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will pay for his crimes with his life.”
Boston Police Commissioner says the verdict sends a message.
He says, “The message if we’re not going to tolerate terrorism in this country. We’re not going to see someone blow up our marathon, blow up our city.”
A judge has not yet set a date for Tsarnaev’s formal sentencing, when he and the victims will be allowed to speak.
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4:10 p.m.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says a jury’s decision to sentence Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) to death is “a fitting punishment.”
Lynch issued a statement Friday after the verdict came down.
She says Tsarnaev “coldly and callously perpetrated a terrorist attack” that injured hundreds and took the lives of four people.
She says, “The ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime.”
Tsarnaev and his brother detonated two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon. His brother died in a shootout with police days later.
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4 p.m.
Jurors who sentenced Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) have found that he showed no remorse.
The jury found that Tsarnaev committed 11 of 12 aggravating factors that prosecutors said supported a sentence of death.
Among the aggravating factors they say the government proved was that he targeted an iconic event that draws large crowds, which makes it especially susceptible to terrorism.
The only one they ruled the government hadn’t proved was that Tsarnaev made statements suggesting that others would be justified in committing additional acts of violence and terrorism against the U.S.
As for mitigating factors presented by the defense, only three of 12 jurors found that Tsarnaev would not have committed the crime but for his older brother, Tamerlan.
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3:45 p.m.
The father of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) has groaned on hearing that his son had been sentenced to death.
An Associated Press journalist was the first to tell Anzor Tsarnaev in the Dagestan region of Russia about Friday’s verdict in Massachusetts.
He moaned deeply on hearing the news and hung up.
His elder son, Tamerlan, died in a shootout with police days after the April 15, 2013, bombing.
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3:35 p.m.
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) has shown no reaction as a jury sentenced him to the death penalty for the 2013 terror attack.
His head was down slightly and his hands were folded in front of him as the death sentence was handed down Friday.
The defense asked that the jury be polled, and each confirmed that the verdict represented his or her decision.
The sentence came down exactly 25 months after the April 15, 2013, bombings.
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3:30 p.m.
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) has been sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 2013 terror attack.
The federal jury in Massachusetts reached the decision Friday after more than 14 hours of deliberations over three days.
The 21-year-old Tsarnaev was convicted last month of all 30 federal charges against him, 17 of which carried the possibility of the death penalty.
The bombing killed three people and injured more than 260 others. Tsarnaev killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer days later.
The defense sought to save Tsarnaev’s life by pinning most of the blame on his radicalized older brother.
But prosecutors portrayed Tsarnaev as an equal partner in the attack and so heartless he placed a bomb behind children, killing an 8-year-old boy.
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2:40 p.m.
The jury deliberating the fate of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) has reached a verdict.
The jury reached a decision Friday in the penalty phase of the death penalty trial after 14 hours of deliberations.
Tsarnaev was convicted last month of all 30 federal charges against him, 17 of which carried the possibility of the death penalty.
The 2013 bombing killed three people and injured more than 260 others. Tsarnaev killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer days later.
The defense sought to save Tsarnaev’s life by pinning most of the blame on his radicalized older brother.
Prosecutors portrayed Tsarnaev as an equal partner in the attack and so heartless he placed a bomb behind children, killing an 8-year-old boy.
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