Today Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be formally sentenced to death in US District Court by the same judge who oversaw his trial.
The question many are asking is: Will the former defendant speak on his own behalf at today’s hearing.
Nearly thirty survivors and members of their families have asked to address Dzhokhar Tsarnaev face to face at his sentencing. US Judge George O’ Toole is expected to honor most or all of the requests.
The convicted Marathon bomber also will be given a chance to address the court, but legal experts doubt that he will. WGBH Radio’s legal analyst, Daniel Medwed, sees little advantage in Tsarnaev making a statement.
Throughout the trial the 21 year old Chechen immigrant remained stoic and seemingly resigned to his fate, no matter how the jury might have ruled.
The defense has already begun preparing an appeal of the verdict based on concerns about the jury selection process and the venue where the trial took place.
At the end of today’s hearing, Tsarnaev will be placed permanently in the hands of the federal Bureau of prisons and eventually transported to the death penalty facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.
