 |
| Tsarnaev during his arrest. |
Confessed murderer Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will now be the one pleading for his life after a federal jury took just 11 hours to find him guilty of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and aftermath that left four dead and 260 maimed and injured.
In a silent courtroom, a clerk read aloud the verdict finding Tsarnaev, 21, guilty of all 30 counts including conspiracy, use of a weapon of mass destruction and the murders of restaurant manager Krystle Marie Campbell, 29, Boston University graduate student Lingzi Lu, 23, and Martin Richard, 8 at the marathon finish line, as well as MIT Police Officer Sean Collier three days later.
Tsarnaev swayed slightly on his feet, his head down, as the verdict was read and as the forewoman of the jury stared directly at him. He showed no reaction.
The jury’s work is far from done. As early as next week, the same 12 deliberating jurors will reconvene for the start of Tsarnaev’s sentencing trial, where they will decide if he is to serve out his days behind bars or be ordered put to death.
This is the biggest story of the day, so it seems appropriate that we discuss it here.
I don't think there was ever any doubt that Tsarnaev would be convicted, the defense case that he was under the spell of his older brother simply never seemed viable to me.
The next question of course is what is the proper punishment for his crimes?
Life in prison?
Or death?
Your thoughts?
Life in prison. Let him rot for years and years and years and years...
ReplyDeleteI'm against the death penalty, even for people like this who commit the most heinous, unimaginable crimes.
ReplyDeleteHe committed a terrible crime. There are many more heinous and unimaginable crimes than what he accomplished under the tutelage of his brother.
DeleteI have to say life in prison, simply because I'm against the death penalty in principle, NOT because I think his crimes were any less than absolutely heinous.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wish I didn't have principles. Or maybe just that I had different ones.
Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty. Even though these were Federal charges, he should not be faced with execution, but life behind bars.
ReplyDeleteBecause it is a federal case is the exact reason he could get the death penalty.
DeleteBut should he, even though he could?
DeleteI feel that he would become a martyr for some crazy causes if he were put to death. Also, I have problems with the death penalty (not that I think that there's any doubt that this guy was guilty). I also feel that he was brainwashed by his older brother, but on the other hand, he did a really terrible thing. Getting put to death with lethal injection actually seems like a pretty nice way to go and then you don't even have to feel any remorse or endure any kind of consequences for your horrible actions..........you're just dead, or in the case of religious people, you get forgiven and go to heaven. What kind of punishment is that? At least with life in prison, he will have to suffer some unhappiness for a few decades. Not much compared to what his victims had to suffer.
ReplyDeleteHmm. That's a deep, deep decision. Perhaps a graphic description of what his life will be like in prison should be presented to Tsarnaev, then let him make a choice between prison or death.
ReplyDeleteHmm. No, I don't like my answer, not at all. He didn't give his victims a choice so why should he get that consideration? Let's put the murderer in prison with no chance of parole. Put him in general population and let him fend for himself. He won't last that long.
It really is of no importance who or what influenced him; he did what he did. Executing him would get him off the hook.
The punishment in prison should be solitary, or limited life, in a cell.
DeleteIt should not mean that we're tossing him into a cave of murderous psychopaths who will do for us what we refuse to do ourselves.
@3:51 -- We wouldn't be refusing to do anything although we know full well what may ultimately happen to him if he goes into gen pop. That's just unfortunate collateral damage but we have no need to feel bad about it. Whatever should happen, will -- it is his destiny, not ours.
DeleteSolitary will just make him mentally ill.
I say Life in Prison. Mainly, for the reason that I am against the Death Penalty.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are people who may deserve the Death Sentence, like this young man. He did a horrible crime. I have no sympathy for him.
However, until our justice system is 100% full proof against making mistakes of sentencing men, or women, to the Death sentence, only to find out they are innocent years later, then.. no.. I am against the Death Penalty all together.
I would like to say Death Penalty for this horrible person, but overall, my opinion is Life Sentence.
No matter what the decision, his life most likely will be one of death IN prison as someone will take his life as a badge of honour. Given that they usually end up on death rows for years and years, I doubt that he will last long. Right or wrong, someone will take his life.
ReplyDeleteWell, of course, it's "wrong" for someone to take his life in prison.
DeleteIf we want to take his life, we should do it up front, by ourselves, so the world is watching.
To shuffle an inmate out of sight, knowing that he'll be executed by nameless criminals, is a subhuman way to run our civilization.
Life and a day. Let his corpse rot a bit before he gets out of prison. And may he live a long, lonely, miserable life. . . just in case there is no hell.
ReplyDeleteLife in prison....transferred to San Quentin.
ReplyDeleteThat would work.
Life in prison. I am also opposed to the death penalty in principle. I don't think it much matters, though, I don't think he will live long there. Inmates have a way of exacting their own justice.
DeleteWhy aren't inmates controlled so that they don't "exact their own justice"?
DeleteJustice is our justice. If we sublet the rape and murder of the incarcerated to other prisoners, that is our form of justice. It's brutal and inhumane, for both of the prisoners. Prison was not created to be a hellhole.
Life in prison would be best. The Death Penalty makes killers out of people (you know the executioners) who would otherwise go through life leading a blameless existence, but that's my Buddhist studies for ya.
ReplyDeleteM. from MD
Let's see, the death penalty or get raped in prison for the rest of his life for killing and maiming Americans. Especially killing an 8 year old child.
ReplyDeleteI think he would prefer the death penalty or if imprisoned he may kill himself?
Why do we blithely allow rape in prison, as if that is a given? Is that the unwritten punishment we expect others to extract on our prisoners?
Delete@3:45 -- We don't allow the rape, but it does and will happen. It isn't an unwritten punishment we expect, it is a side effect of a locked-in society. It all comes about for the most part as a way of establishing power or control over another.
DeleteIt is brutal to be sure, but prison was never intended to be a picnic or a rehabilitation center; it's purpose is to punish criminals.
Since it is a Federal case, he would go a Federal facility which are better controlled than state prisons so life for him would be more bearable for the most part.
The purpose of prison is not to punish criminals. It is to separate them from society and to take away their freedom.
DeletePhyllis: just because it is a Federal case allows there to be a death penalty -- it doesn't create "the exact reason he should get the death penalty."
ReplyDeleteHe could, but he still shouldn't. There's a difference. It's called the rule of law. Mankind should not dictate when another should die, no matter what the crime.
As young as he is, life is good enough. he has possibly 60+ years of 23/1 days, And if it is made in solitary it will be a whole lot longer, or at least seem that way.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how we, as a civilized community, can talk so blithely about the murderous, rape culture inside a prison, and assume that that's what incarceration is for. We don't kill him ourselves, but let him be set upon by psychopaths who will torture and then murder him? What kind of society supports such prisons and such a system?
ReplyDeleteOur society, unfortunately.
DeleteSentence him to death and let him rot in solitary on death row for the next 50 years - while the sentence is in the appeal process. Let him LIVE the terror daily.
ReplyDeleteLife in prison. I don't believe in the death penalty. He may not deserve to live, but I don't think that gives the state the right to kill him.
ReplyDeleteJust in case you don't despise the Christian conservatives at c4p enough, this was posted by one of their sick Sarah Palin supporters:
ReplyDeleterichardas Guest
3 hours ago
At the risk of getting you all mad let me reaffirm that there was no Boston bombing , no body died and wheel chair man is a total fraud because he is part of the crisis management team . You know him as jeff bauman but his real name is nick Vogt a government employee in the US Army . his job is training troops on what to do when an IED goes off .
Go to his facebook page and compare the two men .
they both have the same finger missing and they both have the same injury under their left ear plus they look exactly alike .
Lets be clear about this ,
The Boston Globe newspaper tweeted out two tweets telling time and place of explosions before they happened , the tannoy system at the finish line alerted the crowd of the exorcise for over an hour ahead of time and officials cleared the stands across the street outside the Boston library . on the first smoke blast no one in front of it moved and a close up look at the yellow jacked persons standing there show a DHS logo .
A camera left running one floor up from the smoke grenade going off shows no one in the area but after the smoke cleared lots of actors prepping up including wheel chair man having his false legs removed and fake stumps being inserted by a black lady in a white dress who moments later lay on a stretcher and was covered in fake blood . NO WINDOWS WHERE BROKEN any where on the street !!
In a real bomb all the yellow jackets would have been blown of their feet severely injured or killed in a bloody mess mostly from glass. they would have been blown across the street .
wheel chair man would have died right at his location by bleeding out in 3 minutes , he was not moved by hat man for 8 minutes ( hat man shown in video to be sitting next to wheel chair man for all 8 minutes .). then wheeled down the street to a white tent from which he reappeared to do the whole circuit again . Video from the roof of a building down the street shows this . .
Ambulances behind the white tent never moved , video again
.
Video shows the two knapsacks being placed by police type agents ,. ( one of whom I saw in Philadelphia on the 4th of July last year protecting Joe Biden when they walked down market street to front street )
The bombs the 'brothers ' are supposed to have made don't exist and would never fit a knapsack even if they did .
Photographs produced by the DHS of the ""brothers "" walking through the crowd ahead of the event ( on different pavement designs ) somehow forgot to Photoshop their legs a few times !
The elder ""brother "" killed !! was buried in a Christian cemetery in Virginia we where told, how odd to start with, but then who knew that Muslims cannot be buried in Christian cemeteries . Fact is , he did not exist neither does the younger one , have you ever seen him walking or facing a camera live anywhere .?
So what was this trial all about ....there was no trial ...did you see any of it on TV , any lawyers , participants , interviews with eye witnesses etc. courtroom pictures other than court drawings . and how come every newsperson read from the same script . this was done to create closure for the DHS false flag event .
I was in a street bomb in England in 1974 ( IRA ) I know of which I speak , it took years to recover and I came to America for medical reasons stemming from it .
I have also spend hours going over hundreds of videos of this FF and can easily prove that it was a DHS event .
It makes me very frustrated and angry that these FF/keep coming and Americans keep falling for them ,including most of the news media and FOX. of all channels . .
The next one will be really bad so be prepared , shopping Mall or stadium and of course the tea Party will be blamed until proven otherwise .or it will be isis or some gun/bomb toting madman/group who hates the government .
enough said /
Sounds like the plot for a really bad B-movie -- and just as believable.
DeleteI found it so painfully insulting to the memory of those who lost their lives and those living with the horror.
DeleteSounds to me like he never DID recover from that supposed bombing in England.
DeleteNo bombing? Really? Tell that to my friend who was there, who helped people with his Boy Scout's first aid training and who couldn't hear for three days. Jerk.
DeleteMarie in NH
And what is the purpose of this supposed fraud? Asshole.
DeleteSorry for being off-topic, but just saw this:
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin cancels NRA convention appearance
In Session - 6:20 p.m. CDT April 8, 2015
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has suddenly canceled her upcoming appearance at the National Rifle Association's Annual Meeting in Nashville later this week.
Palin, the outspoken, controversial former governor of Alaska, had been among the biggest names of more than a dozen Republicans scheduled to speak at the NRA's Leadership forum on Friday.
But Palin canceled her visit on Wednesday, Jennifer Baker, director of public affairs for the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, confirmed.
Baker did not provide a reason for Palin's cancellation.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/insession/2015/04/08/sarah-palin-cancels-nra-convention-appearance/25490191/
I do not believe in the death penalty. I think life in prison, knowing that everyone knows exactly what he did, is an appropriate punishment. If he were executed he would become a hero to some sick minds.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
I can see both sides of the issue, I'm against the Death Penalty because nothing anyone can do will bring the victims back nor ease the life sentence the family and friends were given the day he killed their loved one. That's what bothers me the most. Will it deter others from doing the same? I know the answer, the death penalty isn't a deterrent, He'll become a martyr for the cause and get more recruits. What galls me is he's young and blaming it on his dead brother's influence, which is the biggest load of horseshit I ever heard.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful I don't have to make that decision, but in cases like this, it's extremely tempting for me to lower my convictions. I don't want to support him the rest of his natural life, and I can't depend on his cell mates. How long has Charles Manson been alive? How many more deserving people need food, shelter, and health care? It pains me to say it, but give him life without parole nor soap on a rope,
Breaking:
ReplyDeletePalin quits on the NRA. Will not speak at Penis Extension Convention this weekend.
She's most likely either having surgery on her haggard face or back in the mental ward.
DeleteHey Uncle Gryphen
ReplyDeleteI had contacted IUndieGoGo earlier today about them allowing the killer racist cop to crowd source there and this is the response.
Thank you for reaching out. We understand your concerns regarding "Michael T. Slager Support Fund".
"Indiegogo enables anyone, anywhere to raise money for any idea the crowd wishes to fund. Similar to Google, YouTube or Twitter, Indiegogo provides an open platform for ideas without endorsing or approving content that is compliance with Terms of Use." With that said, we are reviewing this campaign to ensure that it complies with our Terms of Use.
So what happens now? We will include the information you have provided along with all other information at our disposal in our review of the campaign. In some cases, we will contact the campaign owner for more information or have them edit their campaign and it will remain on our platform. If we find the project or campaign owner doesn't follow our rules, we may remove the campaign. We may also restrict the campaign owner's future activities on Indiegogo.
To protect our users' privacy, we're unable to share the action we take. At Indiegogo, we take the trust and safety of our community very seriously and we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding throughout this review process. To learn more about Indiegogo’s Trust & Safety effort, please visit:"
Basically they are white washing the whole thing and are okay with a racist raising funds for his defense of murder.
I am sharing this response with everyone I know and can only think that you and other loyal IMers will do the same.
This is nothing but a pussy response and I hope all that share this understand IndieGoGo has drawn a very white line in the sand.
Whichever one is the lowest cost to the taxpayer. Either way he's dead.
ReplyDeleteAlmost nothing we have been told about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev makes sense. Not his failing to act like a Jihadist before or after exploding the bombings, making no public statement for his cause, or seeking to be a martyr. Not his supposedly going to buy milk directly from the site of the bombings. Nor his returning moments later to the store, again ensuring he would be caught on the store’s camera, to return the milk. Nor his going back to his college dorm, working out with his friends, attending class and partying with classmates. Then just staying on in town until he and his brother were marked men. None of this is typical terrorist behavior.
ReplyDeleteBefore the bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wasn’t particularly political, he rarely spoke of religion, and rarely attended mosque. He spent most of his time online frequenting Facebook, and visiting movie and porn sites. He was almost universally known as a popular, polite, and laid-back kid—not a hotheaded reactionary who would kill innocent people in the name of some confused political agenda.
Is it likely that these were the contents of a backpack belonging to a pot-smoking, popular party boy?
Is it likely that these were the contents of a backpack belonging to a pot-smoking, popular party boy?
In a similar vein, it doesn’t make sense that the FBI ignored all of the signs of his elder brother Tamerlan’s growing radicalism, and then after receiving warnings from Russian intelligence and visiting with Tamerlan apparently failed to keep an eye on him when he traveled back to Russia, and when he returned. This is especially peculiar since some of Tamerlan’s behavior seemed actually designed to attract attention, as if he were playing a role. Please see our earlier story exploring this credible possibility.
This is either grounds for indicting the Bureau for incompetence, or it is an indication that these brothers were, like thousands of others, caught up in some web of provocation...
Lots of conspiracy theories: http://www.ibtimes.com/8-boston-marathon-bombing-conspiracy-theories-wont-go-away-1218035
ReplyDeleteDid Chris Kyle start Craft International?