Tsarnaev Day 9: The government is trying to show that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a “cold-blooded Islamic terrorist, who participated in throwing bombs in Watertown the night the two Boston Marathon bombers were involved in a shootout with police,” according to Boston College Law Professor Robert Bloom.
Bloom agrees with WGBH radio reporter Adam Reilly’s assessment that there are “competing narratives” between the prosecution and the defense, with Tsarnaev’s attorneys’ arguing that the defendant was under the influence of his older, domineering brother, who was the mastermind behind the bombing attacks on April 15, 2013.
Bloom, who has experience as both a defense attorney and prosecutor, says its difficult to determine which side had more convincing evidence from Wednesday’s testimony. In one example, Bloom says there was a fingerprint expert who analyzed the wallet of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and found receipts for ammunition from a gun store in New Hampshire, and testified is had his fingerprints on it. Bloom also points to the bloodied gloves with MIT Officer Sean Collier’s blood on it that were found in the car that Dzhokhar was driving, however, the defendant’s sweatshirt did not have any of Collier’s blood on it.
To listen to the complete interview click on the link above.