Tsarnaev judge jettisons 'betrayal' of US as grounds for death penalty
鈥淏etrayal of the United States鈥� is not a legitimate factor in determining whether or not Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should receive the death penalty, a US district judge ruled Wednesday, adding that the government had other legitimate grounds to seek his execution.
In a court filing in May, US Attorney Carmen Ortiz had cited national 鈥渂etrayal鈥� as one of the reasons the prosecution was seeking a death sentence. Mr. Tsarnaev 鈥渞eceived asylum from the United States; obtained citizenship and enjoyed freedoms of a United States citizen; and then betrayed his allegiance to the United States by killing and maiming people,鈥� read the motion.
US District Judge George O鈥橳oole Jr. called this argument 鈥渙bnoxious,鈥� and the distinction made by prosecutors between naturalized and native-born citizens 鈥渋nappropriate.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 unduly prejudicial, and I will strike it,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nly the former take an oath.鈥�
Judge O鈥橳oole did not rule out the death penalty altogether, however. He noted that the prosecution had cited several other legitimate reasons for pursuing capital punishment in their filing in May, including Tsarnaev鈥檚 alleged lack of remorse and substantial planning and premeditation.
鈥淎ggravating factors that are not obnoxious in that sense are adequate for the government鈥檚 purpose,鈥� O鈥橳oole said, .
Also Wednesday, defense lawyers filed a motion asking to move the trial out of Massachusetts, in which they said there is 鈥渁n overwhelming presumption of guilt鈥� according to a survey they conducted in May.
Massachusetts, where the bombing took place, has a complicated relationship with the death penalty 鈥� at least when it comes to Tsarnaev.
In May 2013, shortly after the Marathon bombings, a University of Massachusetts poll found that 59 percent of Bay State residents supported the death penalty for the suspect, while only 50 percent supported capital punishment in general 鈥� a number that dropped to 37 percent in a more recent UMass poll this May.
This is a tension present in the rhetoric of many Massachusetts politicians: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D), US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), gubernatorial candidate Juliette Kayyem (D), and Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) have all expressed their opposition to the death penalty, but have remained noncommittal on its application to the Tsarnaev case. Mayor Walsh even said he supported the 鈥減rocess鈥� that led US Attorney General Eric Holder to seek the death penalty in the Tsarnaev case, despite his personal opposition to it.
In addition to the death penalty charge, the court Wednesday also discussed allegedly inappropriate interviews granted by investigators and prosecutors to the media, including one by former FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers, who spoke to CBS for a documentary.
Judge O鈥橳oole declined to pass any formal judgments about the matter, but expressed frustration with the prosecution鈥檚 conduct.
鈥淚 was not very happy about it,鈥� O鈥橳oole said of the television appearances.
