SENTENCED TO DEATH

Submitted by ub on

A federal jury in Boston returned a verdict in the federal trial of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The young marathon bomber was already found guilty of planning and perpetrating the bombings, will be sentenced to either life in prison or the death penalty.

Jurors were asked to complete a 24-page form to work through the death penalty charges in this case. A unanimous vote for death on any one of the 17 death penalty counts would constitute a death sentence for Tsarnaev. Jurors deliberated for about 14 hours over the course of three days.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s case will automatically be appealed to a higher federal court. That would begin a series of appeals that could take years to resolve.

The identities of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's jurors' have never been disclosed. They were summonsed in early January, and heard 10 weeks of testimony between the separate guilt and sentencing phases. There was much from survivors and amputees with memories so painful and haunting that jurors openly sobbed in the courtroom.