A Boston federal judge said he will consider the legal arguments on whether to step down from hearing convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s case for a new sentencing trial over allegations his jurors were biased.
The decision came during a hearing, as U.S. District Judge George O’Toole addressed concerns raised by Tsarnaev’s defense team. The lawyers argued that statements the judge has made since a trial in 2015 could call into question his objectivity.
We have already… spoken to, you know, comments made in a podcast and at some private events,” said Deirdre D. von Dornum of the Federal Defender’s office who represents Tsarnaev. She asked O’Toole to voluntarily release any additional statements that could show prejudice. The defense must file its brief by Sept. 3, and the government’s is due two weeks later.
Tsarnaev Appeal Prompts Concerns About Potential Juror Bias
Tsarnaev, who was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to death, has sought to reverse his sentence due partly on the basis of undisclosed social media posts by two jurors. Tsarnaev was “a piece of garbage,” said a juror who’d soon be the foreperson. A second juror had discussed signing up for the jury online as well. Tsarnaev’s legal team argues that both jurors should have been disqualified and he deserves a new penalty phase trial.
