Boston bombing trial: What to expect in the penalty phase
The prosecution will go first next week when the penalty phase begins in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The 21-year-old faces the death penalty after being found guilty on all 30 counts linked to the bombing of the 2013 Boston Marathon and the crime spree that followed for several days.
CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman says the prosecution will call witnesses they've saved specifically for the penalty phase, including family members of Martin Richard, the eight-year-old boy who was killed in the blast at the marathon.
"They have saved little Martin Richard mother," said Klieman. "They saved the double amputees. We're going to hear horrific evidence about why he deserves the death penalty."
Judy Clarke, the lead defense attorney, will work to convince the jury to spare Tsarnaev's life in favor of a sentence of life in prison without parole. Klieman says Clark's strategy will include presenting evidence of "psychological nature."
"Experts who will talk about who this young man is, why his will could be overwhelmed, why he could have been intimidated, why he could have gotten into Jihad at the behest of his older brother," said Klieman.
Throughout the trial, the defense's approach has been to paint Dzhokhar as pawn, led astray by his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Klieman says it's likely relatives and friends of Dzhokhar's will be called to describe how the then-teenager was manipulated and changed into someone capable of such a horrific act.
Since a unanimous verdict is needed to sentence Dzhokhar to death, the defense only needs to woo one member of the jury to oppose it, which would result in a life sentence in prison.