The Boston Marathon bomber’s lawyers want the judge to withdraw from the case

October 12, 2024 8:16 PM • Last updated: October 12, 2024 8:16 PM

Boston – Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say the federal judge overseeing the case should recuse himself, largely for the same reason they challenged two jurors in the death penalty trial.

While the request was discussed at a hearing in the case earlier this year, the killer’s lawyers now outline in a recently released motion how they believe the judge in the landmark case was too candid.

“Over the past eight years, while Mr. Tsarnaev’s appeal was still pending, Your Honor has made several public statements regarding this case. These statements were made in various contexts… and related to matters directly relevant to the pre-trial detention proceedings, including the adequacy of the jury selection process, the sitting jurors’ compliance with the Court’s instructions, their ultimate fitness to serve, and the fundamental fairness of the jury. this prosecution carries the death penalty,” Tsarnaev’s attorneys wrote in a motion to Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. in September. of the U.S. District Court, which the judge dismissed on Friday.

“Among other things, Your Honor praised the ‘remarkable’ ‘public spirit’ of the seated jurors, assured the public that Mr. Tsarnaev received a ‘completely fair’ trial, and said that Your Honor has no ‘lingering questions or doubts’ about the ‘outcome of the process’ – a death sentence,” the motion continued.

Tsarnaev was convicted of all 30 charges against him in 2015 and remains incarcerated at the ADX Florence supermax prison in Colorado. These charges include conspiracy, use of a weapon of mass destruction and the murder of MIT police officer Sean Collier as he fled with his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev after the April 15, 2013 bombing that killed three people — including an 8-year-old. boy – and hundreds injured. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with police after the bombing.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers appealed and the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his death sentence and ordered a new criminal trial to decide his sentence, on the grounds that the judge had not adequately questioned jurors about their exposure to the copious news coverage about the act of terrorism.

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the circuit court’s findings in March 2022 and reimposed the death penalty.

The current appeal targets two specific jurors — identified as Jurors 138 and 286 — who lawyers say appealed in their social media posts about Tsarnaev, contradicting their answers to pre-trial questions.

In asking Judge O’Toole to remove himself from the case, attorneys argue that his public statements violate the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges, which generally “prohibits public comment on the merits of a case before a court.” is pending or threatened’. .’”

The motion states that if O’Toole were to refuse to recuse himself, he would still be required to “disclose the dates, circumstances, and contents of any other public comments Your Honor has made regarding this case, as well as any ex parte communications with the jurors …

The motion lists a series of well-known comments O’Toole has made about the case. These include:

April 6, 2016

O’Toole participated in a panel discussion at Boston College Law School, in which he not only said that “the public wit of these jurors was remarkable throughout, both those who were selected and those who were not,” but he also warned against the dangers. of social media to influence jury members.

Lawyers say this is precisely why they asked to suspend Juror 138, who they say was told by a Facebook friend to “play the part so you would get on the jury and then kill him.” to prison where he would be taken care of,” despite saying he had not been exposed to comments about the case on Facebook. Similarly, they write, Juror 286 claimed that she had not participated in Twitter discussions about the case, but had actually retweeted a message calling Tsarnaev a “piece of trash.”

The motion states that even though O’Toole said he did not want to discuss the merits of the case, he expressed his full confidence in the jurors, even though that was the basis on which the appeal rested.

November 17, 2016

O’Toole participated in a seminar called “An Inside Look at Jury Trials,” sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, in which, attorneys wrote, he again expressed his full confidence in the jurors and the “Tsarnaev Marathon Bomber Case.” mentioned. specifically.

May 12, 2023

O’Toole participated in an episode of the “Criminal” podcast called “Did We Get it Right?” Just a few months after the 1st Circuit heard oral arguments on the juror misconduct claims, in which attorneys wrote, he again expressed full confidence in the jurors: “Most of the time, they take their work very seriously. And if we say that it is very important that you only (limit) yourself to what you have heard here in the courtroom and not to any private research that you have done, or to comments that other people have made, tell this to your relatives . just can’t talk about it. And they do. They follow up.”