It was an emotional first day of the long-awaited Boston Marathon Bombing trial Wednesday and it opened with a startling revelation by defense attorney Judy Clark, who announced in front of the entire courtroom, that her client, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was guilty. Clark simply told jurors, "it was him."
In analyzing the statement, Boston College Law Professor Robert Bloom tells WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay that "the argument she's trying to make is that this young man wasn't a cold hearted terrorist, but was influenced by his older brother. She's trying to develop a rapport with the jury."
Bloom says the big objective of the defense is to move the trial along. He says in the first phrase the jury will decide whether or not beyond a reasonable doubt, if Tsarvaev committed the crime, and the likelihood is that they will indeed find him guilty. He says based on what's transpired the this phase should be over by the end of April.
Bloom say the trial then moves into the second phase which is the death phase. In that phase, jurors will decide whether Tsarnaev will live or die.
The trial is capturing attention worldwide. Bloom compares it to the Oklahoma city bombing trial of Timothy McVey, who was found guilty of a domestic terrorist bomb attack that he carried out on April 19, 1995 that killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others.
To hear the entire interview click on the link above.
