Federal Defenders of New York Statement on the First Circuit’s Vacatur of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Death Sentence on July 31, 2020

Federal Defenders of New York Statement on the First Circuit’s Vacatur of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Death Sentence

We are grateful for the Court’s straightforward and fair decision: if the government wishes to put someone to death, it must make its case to a fairly selected jury that is provided all relevant information. The Court rightly acknowledges, as do we, the extraordinary harm done to the victims of the bombing. It is now up to the government to determine whether to put the victims and Boston through a second trial, or to allow closure to this terrible tragedy by permitting a sentence of life without the possibility of release.