Defense Resumes in Trial of Boston Bombing Suspect

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev returned to court Tuesday for day two of the defense portion of his trial. Tsarnaev's attorneys began calling witnesses Monday after the prosecution closed its case. Tsarnaev, 21, faces the death penalty or life in prison if found guilty of the April 15, 2013 attack. Three people were killed and 264 others wounded in the twin blasts he and his older brother, Tamerlan, are accused of setting off and planning. His lawyers contend that both of the ethnic Chechen brothers participated in the bombings, but that Tamerlan, who died after a shootout with police, was the driving force behind them and Dzhokhar's role was secondary. A computer expert testified Monday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's cell phone was being used at or near his college - the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth - while the pressure cookers and BBs for the bombs were being purchased dozens of miles away, suggesting he could not have been the one who bought them. After testimony is complete, jurors will decide whether Tsarnaev is guilty of the 30 federal charges against him, and then hear more evidence to decide whether he should be put to death. Prosecutors concluded their case Monday with graphic testimony from a medical examiner about the blast injuries that killed 8-year-old Martin Richard - the youngest victim in the attack. Several jurors cried as they were shown autopsy photos of the boy, who suffered a ruptured stomach, broken bones and third-degree burns when his body was torn apart by one of the pressure cooker bombs. The boy's parents were in the courtroom as their son's devastating end was described. Another medical examiner told the court how Chinese exchange student Lingzi Lu, 23, bled to death on the sidewalk. Prosecutors said the brothers, who were born in Kyrgyzstan and lived briefly in Russia's mostly-Muslim Dagestan region before coming to the U.S., were driven by Islam and seeking retaliation against the U.S. for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The defense argued it was Tamerlan who "self-radicalized," and Dzhokhar merely "followed him."



from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1DmtAEM