Marathon Bombing Trial Jury Faces Complicated Form In Life Or Death Decision
BOSTON (CBS) - As the jury in the Boston Marathon bomber's trial begins its first full day of deliberations in the punishment phase Thursday, they'll be filling out a very long, complicated form on their way to a decision.
First, the 24-page verdict form spells out the 17 capital counts on which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is convicted.
Read: The Verdict Form (.pdf)
Then it asks the jury to find whether under each count the crime meets any of six statutory factors - things like premeditation, cruelty and the particular vulnerability of the youngest victim, 8-year-old Martin Richard.
Then jurors will look at non-statutory factors in each count – Tsarnaev's lack of remorse, for example.
Federal prosecutor Steve Mellin reminded the jury Wednesday that Tsarnaev bought a gallon of milk 20 minutes after the bombings and tweeted "I'm a stress free guy," the day after.
Mellin once again showed the jury the picture of Tsarnaev extending his middle finger to a security camera the day of his arraignment.
Jurors will then look at the defense list of 12 mitigating factors to weigh those into the decision – Tsarnaev's age, lack of a criminal record and defense attorney Judy Clarks' insistence, over the objection of prosecutors, that he was under the influence of his older brother Tamerlan.
Then, after weighing all those factors, the jury will decide either unanimously for death or unanimously for life in prison.
If there can be no unanimous decision, then the court will be bound to impose a life sentence.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens takes a look at the form:
