Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s case back in court over claims of juror bias

BOSTON — The case against convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev returns to federal court for a status hearing on Wednesday.

Defense lawyers for Tsarnaev are fighting to get his death penalty sentence overturned, arguing bias over questionable social media posts made by two people who sat on the jury that convicted him for his role in the bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds near the marathon’s finish line in 2013.

Prosecutors announced in early May that they weren’t going to challenge a federal appeals court ruling regarding possible juror bias in Tsarnaev’s death penalty case.

The appeals court ordered the judge who oversaw Tsarnaev’s trial to investigate the defense’s claims of juror bias and determine whether his death sentence should stand. Prosecutors then agreed to take a second look.

“This letter is to inform the Court that the government will not be seeking panel rehearing or rehearing en banc (on the bench) of the decision of this case,” the U.S. District Attorney’s Office wrote in a letter to the U.S. Appeal Court on May 1.

There is no chance Tsarnaev will be freed from prison, but his sentence can end up changing to life without parole instead of death.

Defense lawyers have also argued that Tsarnaev had fallen under the influence of his older brother, Tamerlan, who died in a gun battle with police after the bombing.

Tsarnaev was convicted of all 30 charges against him, including conspiracy and use of a weapon of mass destruction and the killing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Officer Sean Collier.

Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China, Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager from Medford, and 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Boston, all died in the bombing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group