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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Boston Marathon Bomber Seeks New Trial

BOSTON (CN) - Just days after receiving a formal death sentence for the Boston Marathon bombing, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cited insufficient evidence Monday in a demand for a new trial.

"A new trial is required in the interests of justice and judgments notwithstanding the verdict are required as a matter of evidentiary insufficiency," the self-described "placeholder" motion states.

Defense attorneys notably admitted their client's guilt right out of the gate at trial, and Tsanaev apologized to his victims and begged for forgiveness at the formal sentencing hearing on June 24.

Noted death-penalty opponent Judy Clarke, of the San Diego firm Clarke & Rice, noted in the motion that it is intended as a placeholder for a filing she plans to file by the Aug. 17 deadline, which comes 90 days after Tsarnaev's conviction .

Tsarnaev, a naturalized U.S. citizen who came to America with his family as refugees from Kyrgyzstan, turns 22 on July 22.

The motion filed Monday is largely a procedural document that details the ongoing process of Tsarnaev's sentencing. It says Tsarnaev plans to file an appeal in the event that his motion for a new trial is denied.

The new motion quotes a previous statement from the court, which anticipated post-sentencing motions.

"We briefly, on a prior occasion, referred to the expectation that if the verdict were as it turned out to be that there would be a post-trial motion and so we'll plan in the scheduling for that," U.S. District Judge George O'Toole said at a May 19 status conference, according to the motion.

Clarke says the court allowed for an extension to 90 days for the motion period.

The two homemade bombs Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan placed near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon three spectators and seriously wounded more than 200.

While attempting to evade capture over the next few days, the pair killed a police officer and hijacked a car they purportedly planned to drive to New York City for another terrorist attack.

Hours after Tamerlan was shot and ultimately run over in a confrontation with police, officers apprehended Tsarnaev hiding out in a boat in Watertown.

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