"Everyone in the press talked about how they would be conviction-prone. But the significant thing to me was that they were death prone" --former US Judge Nancy Gertner on the Tsarnaev jury.
Attorneys for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev argue that serious questions of fairness have lingered since the conclusion of his trial and are asking Judge George O’Toole to set aside his death sentence and order a new trial.
Tsarnaev’s attorneys insist that their client was unfairly sentenced to die. They cite a Supreme Court ruling—Johnson v. US—that outlaws vague sentencing guidelines, arguing that the jury was improperly instructed to deliver a death sentence. Furthermore, Tsarnaev's legal team says jurors were already biased towards death because of the venue. They came from the Boston area, where the acts of terrorism were carried out. But many legal experts, including former US Attorney Donald Stern, believe Tsarnaev still got a fair shake:
“My sense, based upon available information, is that he did receive a fair trial; that the trial should have been and I’m glad it was held in Boston. It was a challenge to find a fair and impartial jury. But as far as I know the judge went to great lengths to make sure that happened.”
Others aren’t so sure. Former federal judge Nancy Gertner says there are too many doubts over how the jury was selected.
“And I don’t know, because so much of the process was sealed, how carefully the process was to pick the fairest juror within the category of those that are death qualified. Everyone in the press talked about how they would be conviction-prone. But the significant thing to me was that they were death prone.”
Judge O’Toole has asked prosecutors and Tsarnaev’s defense attorneys to determine which trial documents, including those related to jury selection, should be released to the public. He has yet to rule on the request for a new trial.
