Two years after the Boston Marathon bombing, jurors in the trial of suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are set to begin deliberations Tuesday.
Both prosecutors and Tsarnaev’s lawyers told jurors he must be held accountable for his participation in the terror attack on April 15, 2013, which killed three people and wounded more than 260 after two bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line. But they differed on what role he played in the bombing.
The defense argued that despite his involvement in the attack, his deceased older brother Tamerlan was the mastermind, leading then-19-year-old Tsarnaev astray.
“If not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened,” defense attorney Judy Clarke said.
However, prosecutors asserted that Tsarnaev knew what he was doing and made a coldblooded decision to be part of the attack.
“This was a cold, calculated terrorist act. This was intentional. It was bloodthirsty. It was to make a point,” U.S. Attorney Aloke Chakravarty said. “It was to tell America that ‘We will not be terrorized by you anymore. We will terrorize you.'”
If Tsarnaev is convicted, jurors will then decide whether he should get life in prison or the death penalty.
