US Supreme Court to review overturning of 2013 Boston Marathon bomber's death sentence

By Asianet Newsable English  |  First Published Mar 22, 2021, 9:58 PM IST

Tsarnaev was convicted on multiple counts for the 2013 terror attack near the Boston marathon finishing line that claimed three people's lives and handed the death penalty in 2015.


The United States Supreme Court has said that it would take up a government plea to reinstate the death sentence of one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Tsarnaev was convicted on multiple counts for the 2013 terror attack near the Boston marathon finishing line that claimed three people's lives and handed the death penalty in 2015.

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However, in 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit saved Tsarnaev from the gallows because a fair jury could not be provided to him in 2015, considering the extensive media spotlight on the case.

A reversal of the Tsarnaev's sentencing could pose a catch-22 situation for US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to end the federal death penalty.

Dzhokhar's lawyers contended during the court of appeals trial even though he and his older brother Tamerlan detonated the two bombs at the marathon finish line. Still, Dzhokar was less culpable since his brother was the mastermind of the attack.

Tamerlan was killed in a gunfight with the police a few days later. 

After Dzhokar's death verdict was overturned last year, the Donald Trump administration had lodged an appeal, which the Supreme Court has now agreed to hear.

To note, the outgoing Trump administration executed 13 federal inmates in the last six months of its tenure. 

The US Supreme Court will now hear the case in October this year.

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