BOSTON - Defense lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are looking for ways to show his deceased older brother was mostly responsible for the tragedy - a move that, if successful, could save their client’s life.
The lawyers asked a judge Friday to order federal prosecutors to turn over any FBI evidence related to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, hoping the defense can use it to build the case that he was the main instigator behind the deadly attack.
They say in court filings that if Dzhokhar is convicted, jurors could decide whether to give him life in prison or the death penalty based on how they perceive “the brothers’relative responsibility for conceiving and carrying out the attacks.”
The lawyers think the jury’s decision could rest on “the extent to which it views Tamerlan Tsarnaev as having induced or coerced his younger brother to help commit them.”
“For this reason,” the defense argued, “any evidence tending to show that Tamerlan supplied the motivation, planning and ideology behind the Boston Marathon attack, and that his younger brother acted under his domination is material … and is also subject to disclosure.”
Two explosions at the April 15 marathon killed three people and injured more than 260 others. Tamerlan, 26, died in a shootout with policefour days after the attack. Dzhokhar, who was 19 at the time of the bombings, was captured soon after his brother’s deathand has pleaded innocent to 30 federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction.
Front Section, Pages 11 on 03/30/2014