Boston bombing jury resumes deliberations after asking judge questions
Update: The jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of all charges in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have resumed deliberations for a second day in the first phase of his federal death penalty trial.
Before the jurors began their second day, Judge George O'Toole Jr. answered two notes from the panel containing questions. WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong reports that the questions had to do with the legal definitions of "conspiracy" and "aiding and abetting."
The jury of seven women and five men began deliberations Tuesday on 30 federal charges against Tsarnaev. Jurors returned to U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
If Tsaranev is convicted, the same jury will hear more evidence in a second phase of the trial to decide whether he is sentenced to death or life in prison.
Seventeen of the charges against Tsarnaev carry the possibility of the death penalty.
Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line on April 15, 2013.
During closing arguments Monday, Tsarnaev's lawyers agreed with prosecutors that Tsarnaev conspired with his brother to bomb the marathon and planted one of two pressure-cooker bombs that exploded that day.
But the defense said it was his now-dead older brother, Tamerlan, who was the mastermind of the attack. It was Tamerlan who bought the bomb parts, built the bombs and planned the attack, said defense attorney Judy Clarke.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died four days after the bombings after he was shot by police and run over by Dzhokhar during a getaway attempt. Dzhokhar was captured hours later hiding in a dry-docked boat.
"This was a cold, calculated terrorist act. This was intentional. It was bloodthirsty. It was to make a point," federal prosecutor Aloke Chakravarty said Monday. "It was to tell America that we will not be terrorized by you anymore. We will terrorize you."
The jury saw video of Tsarnaev setting down his pressure cooker bomb right behind a row of children, including the youngest victim to die in the attack, 8-year-old Martin Richard.
"These children weren't innocent to him. They were American. Of all the places that he could have placed the bomb, he placed it right there," the prosecutor said.
The government says evidence like the jihadi materials found in Tsarnaev's laptops and his alleged confession written while hiding in the boat prove that Tsarnaev was a willing partner in the bombings, the murder of officer Sean Collier, and the carjacking of Dun Meng.
The prosecution ended with a montage of graphic images from the aftermath of the attacks, accompanied by jihadi chants found on the defendant's mobile devices.
In her closing arguments, defense attorney Judy Clarke continued with the theme which has been at the heart of Tsarnaev's defense: He did it, but he was manipulated by his older brother, Tamerlan. She said evidence shows it was Tamerlan who bought the materials, built the bombs and lured the younger brother into jihad.
"We must understand who was leading and who was following," Clarke told the court. "We don't deny that Dzhokhar fully participated in the events. But if not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened."