Boston Marathon bombing verdict: Tsarnaev guilty of all 30 charges
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been found guilty of all 30 charges against him in the Boston Marathon bombing trial.
The jury came to its verdict after a longer-than-expected 12 hours of deliberations that began Tuesday morning.
Mr. Tsarnaev stood with his defense team as each verdict was read. He showed little reaction as the court clerk took almost 30 minutes to read all 30 verdicts, folding his hands in front of him or tucking his shirt into his belt. Family members and victims also watched on in silence, including Bill and Denise Richard, parents of 8-year-old victim Martin.
Once the entire verdict was read, Judge George O鈥橳oole reminded the jurors that they鈥檙e 鈥渟till an active jury.鈥�
鈥淵ou may not discuss your deliberations with anyone, even each other,鈥� he added. 鈥淭here鈥檚 another task ahead of us we have to look forward to.鈥�
The trial will now move to a second sentencing phase. The same jury will decide whether Tsarnaev will be sentenced to death or to life in prison 鈥� the only two possible verdicts. A death sentence would require unanimous agreement from the jurors.
On Tuesday afternoon, the jury asked Judge O鈥橳oole two questions that seemed to illustrate some confusion over the 30 charges Tsarnaev faced. The jury wanted to know if a 鈥渃onspiracy鈥� can take place over the course of several events, as well as the difference between 鈥渁iding鈥� and 鈥渁betting.鈥�
O鈥橳oole said that according to the prosecution鈥檚 indictment, the 鈥渃onspiracy鈥� formally existed from Feb. 13, 2013, to April 19, 2013 鈥� the day Tsarnaev was captured in Watertown, Mass. He added, however, that it was up to the jurors to decide the scope and duration of the conspiracy based on the facts they鈥檇 heard in the case.
Aiding and abetting, he continued, 鈥渋s a single concept.鈥�
鈥淭o aid and abet means to intentionally help someone commit a criminal offense,鈥� he said.
While the overall verdict was not surprising 鈥� a in the trial acknowledged during the selection process that they鈥檇 already formed an opinion on Tsarnaev鈥檚 guilt 鈥� some specific decisions stand out.
Tsarnaev was found guilty of all charges, as well as all injuries and deaths associated with the charges. He was found guilty of using six weapons 鈥� two pressure-cooker bombs, three pipe bombs, and a Ruger P95 handgun. He was also found guilty in the death of MIT police officer Sean Collier, the carjacking of Dun Meng, and the injuring of transit officer Richard Donohue.
With the 鈥渁iding and abetting鈥� charge, Tsarnaev was able to be found guilty of crimes committed directly by his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
His defense team is expected to argue in the sentencing phase that Tamerlan was聽the mastermind behind the attacks and pressured his brother into participating.
Before dismissing the jurors for now, O鈥橳oole told them the court will move to begin the sentencing phase 鈥渆xpeditiously.鈥� But, he added, the second phase would not begin until next week at the earliest.
鈥淭he schedule is as yet undetermined,鈥� O鈥橳oole said.
鈥淚鈥檒l repeat my usual cautions,鈥� he added. 鈥淒on鈥檛 read any news reports about the case. There will probably be some today.鈥�
