海角大神

The courtroom playing host to the Boston Marathon bombing trial overflowed with spectators Monday, but it reached new depths of silence as both legal teams delivered closing statements.

A month after the trial began 鈥� and after hearing testimony from 96 witnesses regarding the April 15, 2013, bombings and their aftermath 鈥� the jury will now decide whether to find accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of the 30 federal charges leveled against him.

The bombings, which Mr. Tsarnaev is believed to have carried out with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, resulted in three聽deaths and more than 260 injuries. If Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is found guilty, the trial would move to a second phase to determine his punishment: a sentence of death, or life in prison.

Assistant US Attorney Aloke Chakravarty聽began by focusing on the stark brutality of the bombings.

鈥淭he defendant brought terrorism to backyards and Main Street,鈥� he began. 鈥淗e chose the day when the eyes of the world would be on Boston.鈥�

Mr. Chakravarty then walked the 18-person jury through the past month鈥檚 evidence while preemptively poking holes in what was expected to be the main arguments for the defense: that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was the self-radicalized mastermind behind the bombings and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev more of an accomplice.

鈥淭he defendant and his brother did this together,鈥� said Chakravarty. 鈥淚t was a coordinated attack to maximize the terror.鈥�

Throughout his closing statement, Chakravarty was liberal in his use of the word 鈥渢hey,鈥� emphasizing how the brothers worked and acted together.

He repeatedly described the brothers as 鈥減artners鈥� and 鈥渁 team.鈥�

"They made their last stand" in Watertown, he said. "While one was shooting, the other was lighting and throwing the bombs.鈥�

鈥淭hey were a team, this is how they rolled,鈥� he added.

The climax of Chakravarty鈥檚 statement featured a montage of graphic video and still images from the day of the bombings, as well as smiling photos of the victims, set to a 鈥渘asheed鈥� 鈥� an extremist Islamic hymn found on Tsarnaev鈥檚 computer that had been referenced earlier in the trial but never heard.

The courtroom reportedly fell completely silent as the images and music played.聽The gallery was filled with victims and their families rewatching images from the bombings, while Chakravarty described the injuries suffered by the dead victims.

Lingzi Lu, he said, had her leg 鈥渢orn open.鈥� Eight-year-old Martin Richard had his body 鈥渟hattered, broken, eviscerated, burned.鈥�

鈥淭here is nothing about this day that was a twist of fate. This was a cold, calculated terrorist attack,鈥� Chakravarty said. 鈥淣ow is the time to hold him accountable.鈥�

Defense attorney Judy Clarke came next with her own closing statement. While the prosecution鈥檚 statement was defined by the use of the word 鈥渢hey,鈥� Ms. Clarke was aggressive in pushing her argument that Tamerlan Tsarnaev played a much more significant role in the bombings than did his younger brother. She mentioned Tamerlan鈥檚 name repeatedly, almost compensating for a month of testimony where questions about the brother had been purposefully limited.

鈥淚t's important to know who did what, and why it was done,鈥� Clarke told the jury. 鈥淲e very much disagree on the why.鈥�

The contention that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was an equal partner in the bombings 鈥渋s simply not true,鈥� she said.

Clarke then took the jury through streams of past exhibits suggesting Tamerlan Tsarnaev鈥檚 enhanced involvement in the bombings. Receipts showed that he bought some of the bomb components online himself; GPS data from cellphones showed that Dzhokhar was in Dartmouth when Tamerlan was buying the pressure cookers over an hour away; Tamerlan鈥檚 fingerprints were found all over bomb components in the family apartment in Cambridge, Mass.

鈥淲hose prints are not?鈥� she asked. 鈥淒zhokhar.鈥�

The brothers, she said, were 鈥渋ndividual people who thought differently, acted differently, and had a very different role.鈥�

Still, early on in her statement 鈥� as she did in her opening statement聽last month 鈥� Clarke didn鈥檛 shy away from admitting her client participated in the bombings, describing them as 鈥渁 senseless act.鈥�

鈥淲e are not asking you to excuse the conduct, but let's look at the varying roles,鈥� she added.

鈥淲hat does any of this matter when we know that Dzhokhar walked down Boylston Street with a bomb in a backpack?鈥� she asked. 鈥淚t matters because you're entitled to know the full picture.鈥�

"We don't deny that Dzhokhar fully participated in the events,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut if not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened."

Prosecutor William Weinreb responded with a brief rebuttal, which he used to immediately discredit Clarke鈥檚 arguments.

鈥淭he defendant might be guilty but his brother is more guilty? That鈥檚 not a defense,鈥� said Mr. Weinreb. Tsarnaev, he added, is 鈥渢rying to avoid full responsibility for what he did.鈥�

Judge George O鈥橳oole began the day spending an hour detailing for the jury the 30 charges against Tsarnaev, and he ended the day describing to them their responsibilities for deliberations, which will begin Tuesday morning.

He warned the jurors to not let their emotions or the sometimes-graphic evidence 鈥渙verride鈥� their rational judgment and consideration of the evidence.

"You said you could be impartial,鈥� he told them. 鈥淚f I had not trusted your answer, you would not be here today."