BOSTON (AP) — The judge who presided over the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, has been ordered by a federal appeals court to investigate claims of juror bias and determine whether Tsarnaev’s death sentence should stand. While the appeals court did not overturn the death sentence, defense lawyers had sought that outcome, arguing that two jurors had exhibited bias during the trial.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the trial judge did not adequately address Tsarnaev’s allegations, prompting the court to send the case back for further investigation. If the judge concludes that either juror should have been disqualified, Tsarnaev’s sentence would be vacated, and a new penalty-phase trial would be held to determine whether he should be sentenced to death.
The appeals court highlighted that regardless of the outcome, Tsarnaev would spend the rest of his life in prison. The U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts declined to comment on the matter, leaving open the possibility for further action by the Justice Department. Tsarnaev’s lawyers have not yet responded to the court’s decision.
This development marks the latest twist in a long-running case that has already reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2020, the 1st Circuit overturned Tsarnaev’s death sentence, citing a failure by the trial judge to adequately question jurors about their exposure to media coverage of the bombing. However, in 2022, the Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence with a 6-3 ruling, asserting that the 1st Circuit had erred in its decision.
Following a request from Tsarnaev’s lawyers, the 1st Circuit reevaluated the case, considering additional issues that the Supreme Court had not addressed. Among these issues were concerns about the trial being held in Boston and challenges to the seating of jurors accused of dishonesty during questioning. Despite a moratorium on federal executions by the Justice Department, efforts to uphold Tsarnaev’s death sentence have persisted.
During the oral arguments before the 1st Circuit, Tsarnaev’s lawyers argued that two jurors had made false statements during the jury selection process. One juror had retweeted a post calling Tsarnaev a “piece of garbage,” while another had claimed that none of his Facebook friends had commented on the trial, despite evidence to the contrary. However, a Justice Department lawyer contended that the jurors had simply misremembered rather than lied and defended the trial judge’s actions.
In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court panel supported the call for further investigation into the jurors. Judges William Kayatta Jr. and O. Rogeriee Thompson, both nominated by former President Barack Obama, agreed that an inquiry to rule out biased conduct should have been conducted. Judge Jeffrey Howard, nominated by former President George W. Bush, dissented, asserting that the district court had adequately determined that the jurors were not improperly biased.
It is important to note that Tsarnaev’s guilt in the deaths of Lingzi Lu, Krystle Campbell, and Martin Richard was not being questioned in this appeal. Rather, the focus was on whether Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death or spend life in prison. Defense lawyers argued that Tsarnaev had been influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan, who died in a confrontation with the police after the 2013 bombing.
Tsarnaev was convicted on all 30 charges, including conspiracy, the use of a weapon of mass destruction, and the killing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Officer Sean Collier. Prosecutors argued that the brothers carried out the attack to retaliate against the United States for its military involvement in Muslim countries. A confession scrawled by Tsarnaev, found in the boat where he was hiding, mentioned the wars and demanded an end to the killing of innocent people.