I'm about 100 pages into the opinion that overturned Tsarnaev's death penalty sentence, and I'm not close to done
That said - there are two big reasons so far why the 1st Circuit vacated the death sentence
Quick and dirty thread
That said - there are two big reasons so far why the 1st Circuit vacated the death sentence
Quick and dirty thread
First, the trial judge screwed up voir dire
The Boston Bombing case dominated the news cycle, which means the trial judge has to ask questions of potential jurors to determine whether they are overly biased by pretrial publicity
The Boston Bombing case dominated the news cycle, which means the trial judge has to ask questions of potential jurors to determine whether they are overly biased by pretrial publicity
A 1st Circuit case—Patriarca v. United States—sets the standard - that when questioning potential jurors in a case where the jurors have been exposed to prejudicial material, the judge must:
"elicit[]...the kind and degree of his exposure to the case or the parties."
"elicit[]...the kind and degree of his exposure to the case or the parties."
Here, the 1st circuit explained that simply didn't happen
The trial judge asked only if the jurors could decide the case based on the evidence - and did not inquire into what they had heard or read about the case
That's an abuse of discretion, and grounds for reversal
The trial judge asked only if the jurors could decide the case based on the evidence - and did not inquire into what they had heard or read about the case
That's an abuse of discretion, and grounds for reversal
The finding of guilty didn't get tossed because Tsarnaev conceded that he had done what the government accused him of at trial, so any void dire error was "harmless" with respect to the finding of guilt
But it wasn't harmless at the penalty phase (death penalty/no death penalty)
But it wasn't harmless at the penalty phase (death penalty/no death penalty)
The second big reason the death sentence got tossed was the trial judge's decision to exclude evidence of Tsarnaev's older brother's past criminal history
It wouldn't be relevant to guilt or innocence, but it's relevant to culpability in the penalty phase
It wouldn't be relevant to guilt or innocence, but it's relevant to culpability in the penalty phase
The government itself realized that Tsarnaev's culpability hinged on whether he was under Tamerlan's influence
The 1st Circuit decided this was relevant mitigating evidence for the penalty phase, and thus additional grounds to vacate the death sentence
The 1st Circuit decided this was relevant mitigating evidence for the penalty phase, and thus additional grounds to vacate the death sentence
FWIW, I have limited experience in criminal practice, but the opinion makes sense to me
But I'll let more experienced criminal practitioners chime in
But I'll let more experienced criminal practitioners chime in
