What was dzhokhar

But Deputy Solicitor General Eric Feigin called the evidence "unreliable hearsay" from a "dead man with a powerful motive to lie" and said the information was not central to the jury's final verdict. He said the murders remain unsolved and that there was insufficient evidence to describe Tamelan's true role in the crime to the jury. Feigin said that the jury decided to recommend death because Dzhokhar positioned himself "behind a group of children, putting down his backpack.

In court, conservative justices seemed to agree with Feigin suggesting that the district court had been correct to exclude the evidence because it had never been proven and could be misleading to the jury.

Justice Samuel Alito asked sarcastically at one point whether a district court had to adopt a policy of "anything goes" when it comes to admitting testimony. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he viewed a district court judge as having a "gatekeeping role" to keep out unsubstantiated evidence, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted that rules allow information to be excluded if it is "misleading.

But liberal justice Elena Kagan said that the evidence was the kind that should be admitted, especially because it was so central to Tsarnaev's case. She wondered if it didn't represent a "classic case" of evidence that might be "highly relevant. She said the jury should have been able to consider it during its own deliberations -- "that's what a jury is supposed to do.

It is unclear whether, even if Tsarnaev's death penalty is reinstated, he would actually be put to death. In July, Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department reviews policies and procedures. Barrett brought up that question in court asking: "What is the government's end game here? Over the years, survivors and family members have split on whether Tsarnaev should get the death penalty. The defense, in its appeal, also argued that the federal death penalty should not apply to Tsarnaev because he was just nineteen when he committed his crime.

In , the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty should not be imposed on juveniles—those under eighteen—in part because young people are particularly susceptible to influence and intimidation and lack the maturity to fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.

But the legal and cultural understanding of the age of full maturity has been shifting upward. This is, in all likelihood, how he will spend the rest of his life. It could mean that even a person who has committed a horrible crime may have the chance at restoring dignity and meaning to his life. But in the U. By The New Yorker.

By Masha Gessen. When Francine Hughes murdered her husband after enduring years of abuse, a debate about domestic violence was ignited, making her story both a high point and an aberration in how such cases would be handled in the years to come.

Masha Gessen became a staff writer at The New Yorker in The Daily The best of The New Yorker , every day, in your in-box, plus occasional alerts when we publish major stories. Enter your e-mail address. News Desk. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was born on July 22, , in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. According to the Kyrgyzstan government's state committee for national security, Dzhokhar moved with his family — including parents Anzor and Zubeidat, older brother Tamerlan, and two sisters — to the Republic of Dagestan when he was about 8 years old.

According to Anzor and Zubeidat, Dzhokhar and his parents immigrated to the United States in , settling near Boston, Massachusetts. Dzhokhar's older brother, Tamerlan, and two sisters reportedly stayed behind, living with an aunt and uncle Kazakhstan before moving to the United States in On April 15, , two explosions went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon—one approximately four hours after the start of the race, and the other just seconds later — killing three people and injuring more than That evening, police were called to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, where a year-old university police officer, Sean Collier, had been fatally shot.

Media reports covering the incident stated that investigators believed the Tsarnaev brothers were responsible for shooting Collier. The brothers then reportedly carjacked a vehicle and fled to Watertown, Massachusetts, where a gunfight ensued following a police chase in the early hours of April 19, Tamerlan was shot and killed by police in the shootout.

Later that day, Dzhokhar was captured after reportedly hiding in a boat in the yard of a private property in Watertown. After reportedly being shot multiple times by police, he was taken to a Boston hospital to be treated for injuries, including a neck wound that some investigators believe was self-inflicted. On April 22, , year-old Dzhokhar was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings.

Shortly thereafter, the White House announced that Dzhokhar would not be tried as an enemy combatant, but as a U. He made his initial court appearance, which was conducted by a federal magistrate judge, in his hospital room at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Death sentence for Boston bomber.

Image source, Boston Globe via Getty Images. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his elder brother Tamerlan planted bombs close to the finish line of the Boston Marathon on 15 April Rolling Stone defends Boston bomb suspect cover.

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