Current:Home > StocksDefense attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber seek recusal of judge overseeing case-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Defense attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber seek recusal of judge overseeing case
View Date:2024-12-23 14:12:50
BOSTON (AP) — Attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are seeking to remove the judge overseeing the protracted legal battle over Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers said during a hearing in federal court in Boston on Wednesday that U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole should be recused from the case, pointing to what they said were comments O’Toole made about the case on podcasts and at public events during the appeals process.
Prosecutors said they are not opposed to a hearing on the issue, but they said they believe the motion is meritless.
O’Toole scheduled a hearing on the recusal request for next month. Tsarnaev was not in court.
“I want to dispose of that issue immediately, one way or another,” O’Toole said.
During the hearing, O’Toole also said all future filings connected to the case are to be done under seal to protect the integrity of the process.
A victim of the bombing, Mikey Borgard, attended Wednesday’s hearing.
Borgard said he was walking home from work on the day of the marathon when the bombs exploded. He suffered hearing loss and from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I was 21 when the marathon happened. I’m 33 now. This has been a very, very long process and I really kind of wish it was over,” said Borgard, who wear hearing aides. Despite his injuries, Borgard said opposes capital punishment.
“I very strongly oppose the death penalty and that’s across the board. It does not matter who you are, I think the death penalty is inhumane,” he said. “That is essentially an eye for an eye, and that is very old way of looking at things.”
A federal appeals court in March ordered O’Toole to investigate the defense’s claims of juror bias and to determine whether Tsarnaev’s death sentence should stand following his conviction for his role in the bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds near the marathon’s finish line in 2013.
If O’Toole finds jurors should have been disqualified, he should vacate Tsarnaev’s sentence and hold a new penalty-phase trial to determine if Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death, the appeals court said.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence imposed on Tsarnaev after the 1st Circuit threw out the sentence in 2020. The circuit court found then that the trial judge did not sufficiently question jurors about their exposure to extensive news coverage of the bombing. The Supreme Court justices voted 6-3 in 2022 when they ruled that the 1st Circuit’s decision was wrong.
The 1st Circuit took another look at the case after Tsarnaev’s lawyers urged it to examine issues the Supreme Court didn’t consider. Among them was whether the trial judge wrongly forced the trial to be held in Boston and wrongly denied defense challenges to seating two jurors they say lied during questioning.
Tsarnaev’s guilt in the deaths of those killed in the bombing was not at issue in the appeal. Defense lawyers have argued that Tsarnaev had fallen under the influence of his older brother, Tamerlan, who died in a gun battle with police a few days after the April 15, 2013, 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 during the Tsarnaev brothers’ getaway attempt.
veryGood! (4193)
Related
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- Rifts in Europe over irregular migration remain after ‘success’ of new EU deal
- 'This one's for him': QB Justin Fields dedicates Bears' win to franchise icon Dick Butkus
- 'Brooklyn Crime Novel' explores relationships among the borough's cultures and races
- USMNT Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal Leg 1 vs. Jamaica: Live stream and TV, rosters
- Morocco begins providing cash to families whose homes were destroyed by earthquake
- Colorado funeral home operator known for green burials investigated after bodies found 'improperly stored'
- Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to Iranian women 20 years apart trace tensions with the West
- Taylor Swift drops Christmas merchandise collection, including for 'Tortured Poets' era
- Many Americans don't believe in organized religion. But they believe in a higher power, poll finds
Ranking
- FanDuel Sports Network regional channels will be available as add-on subscription on Prime Video
- Biden's Title IX promise to survivors is overdue. We can't wait on Washington's chaos to end.
- Georgia’s governor continues rollback of state gas and diesel taxes for another month
- Ex-lover of Spain’s former king loses $153 million harassment lawsuit in London court
- 1 million migrants in the US rely on temporary protections that Trump could target
- Migrants pass quickly through once impenetrable Darien jungle as governments scramble for answers
- Troopers who fatally shot 'Cop City' protester near Atlanta won't face charges
- Philippines protests after a Chinese coast guard ship nearly collides with a Philippine vessel
Recommendation
-
Rachael Ray Details Getting Bashed Over Decision to Not Have Kids
-
$1.4 billion jackpot up for grabs in Saturday's Powerball drawing
-
A Florida man who shot down a law enforcement drone faces 10 years in prison
-
North Korea provides Russia artillery for the Ukraine war as U.S. hands Kyiv ammunition seized from Iran
-
Minnesota man is free after 16 years in prison for murder that prosecutors say he didn’t commit
-
'A person of greatness': Mourners give Dianne Feinstein fond farewell in San Francisco
-
Pakistan says its planned deportation of 1.7 million Afghan migrants will be ‘phased and orderly’
-
'The Golden Bachelor' recap: Who remains after first-date drama and three eliminations?