Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the death sentences of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in finding that the lower court was wrong when it tossed out Tsarnaev’s capital sentences in a 2020 decision over issues with jury selection and evidence that was excluded during the penalty phase of his trial.
Writing for the court’s conservative majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it declined to ask prospective jurors during Tsarnaev’s trial about their media consumption regarding the 2013 bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The majority also said the district court’s decision not to allow evidence involving Tsarnaev’s older brother, Tamerlan, was “reasonable.”
“Dzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes. The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one,” Thomas wrote for the court.
