Tsarnaev defense attorneys: ‘The litigation in this case is far from over’
A courtroom sketch shows Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his sentencing in Boston
Defense attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev argued in federal court on Tuesday that the convicted Boston Marathon bomber deserves a new trial in light of a recent Supreme Court decision.
That decision, Johnson v. U.S., dealt with a part of the Armed Career Criminals Act of 1984 that allowed for harsher prison terms for “violent felonies.’’ In an 8-1 decision this summer, the Court ruled that the term “violent felony’’ was unconstitutionally vague.
Defense attorneys for Tsarnaev argued on Tuesday that the decision in Johnson represented a “sea change in the law’’ relevant to his case.
In Tsarnaev’s case, 15 of the 30 charges, including three of the six death penalty counts, relied on language similar to that found unconstitutional in Johnson, defense attorneys said. Given the importance of the “number and weight’’ of those counts, defense attorneys said the case should receive a new trial.
Prosecutors said the legal language invalidated in Johnson wasn’t relevant to Tsarnaev’s case. They also argued that if some counts were to be invalidated, that would not require an entirely new trial.
The hearing was the first of what is likely to be years of appeals and legal challenges on behalf of Tsarnaev.
“The litigation in this case is far from over,’’ defense attorney Miriam Conrad said.
The 22-year-old Tsarnaev, who was not present in court, was found guilty of all 30 charges against him and sentenced to death for his role in the April 2013 bombing and its aftermath, which killed four people and injured over 260 more.
Defense attorneys also argued on Tuesday that the government was violating an agreed-upon contract that limited prosecutors’ access to information about who visited Tsarnaev in prison. Conrad said that information was under attorney-client privilege, and their argument to violate the agreement was “simply nonsensical.’’
“There is always the possibility of a retrial,’’ she said. “The government wants to be able to have this information for use should that occur.’’
Prosecutors said there was no privileged information in those files, and that the agreement was not meant to be enforced indefinitely.
During the hearing, U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole opened the possibility that some previously sealed files will be made public. O’Toole said the passage of time had made many of the sealed files “unnecessary.’’
“We are anxious on behalf of a lot of people to unseal as much as we can,’’ he said.
Gallery: The Tsarnaev trial in courtroom sketches
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