Boston--Jury deliberations will enter a second day Thursday on whether to sentence Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death or life without parole, for carrying out one of the worst attacks in America since September 11.
The 12 men and women, who last month convicted the 21-year-old of Chechen descent on all charges relating to the April 15, 2013 bombings, must reach a unanimous verdict if they are to sentence him to death.
Two pressure cooker bombs, hidden in backpacks and assembled with online instructions from Al-Qaeda killed three people and wounded 264 others at the finish line of the northeastern city's popular marathon.
Government prosecutors say Tsarnaev is a remorseless terrorist who deserves to die for inflicting carnage. The defense say he is a "lost kid," manipulated into the "heinous crime" by his radical older brother.
Jurors began deliberations Wednesday, meeting for less than an hour before Federal Judge George O'Toole instructed them to return Thursday.
They must elect a foreman, then complete a 24-page, eight-part verdict form that requires each to weigh aggravating and mitigating factors, list any additional mitigating factors and examine Tsarnaev's motives.
They can decide to sentence him to death unanimously on all 17 convictions that carry the death penalty, or on some, or sentence him to life in jail.
"The choice between these very serious alternatives is yours and yours alone to make," O'Toole said.
It took them over 11 hours to convict Tsarnaev of the bombings, the subsequent murder of a police officer, a carjacking and a shootout.
AFP
