Boston Marathon bomber's lawyer says "It was him"

[Swerd]

In her opening statement at the trial of the Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his defense lawyer, Judy Clarke admitted he is guilty.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-marathon-bombing-trial-opening-statements/

Why doesn't the judge call the defense lawyer and prosecutor to his chambers and ask for motions to end the trial? Guilty as charged. The evidence against this guy is overwhelming anyway, but why bother if the defense says on day 1 my client is guilty, "It was him". Move on to the sentencing part of the trial.

 

[markw]

Everybody is due a trial and, odds are, the shyster will probably try to pull some sympathy plea like he was insane, under his brothers thrall, or the debbil made him do it so he gets as light a sentence as possible.

Plus, the publicity this pettifogger will get from the exposure is priceless. Look at Johnny Cochran. Who ever heard of him before OJ?

 

[Swerd]

True, everyone is due a trial. One of our founding fathers, John Adams, successfully defended British troops accused of firing on the angry crowds in the Boston Massacre.

But this guilty plea that isn't a guilty plea seems like a deliberate effort by the defense attorney to "raise the bar" higher than it really is. It's like she wants to show that she can keep her client from getting executed even when everyone in the courtroom knows he's guilty. The evidence that he is guilty is strong. There is an uncoerced written admission by the accused when he thought he might die before getting arrested. Even Johnny Cochran couldn't get a not guilty verdict in this case.

But I don't think it's a sure thing that the jury will decide on the death sentence. Public opinion in Boston, about a year ago, was 50/50 on that. So I think the lawyer is going for the publicity. That's why I want the judge to cancel her show.

Personally, I think this is one of the rare cases when the death sentence should be given. It will avoid future kidnappings in the Middle East.

 

[Alex2507]

But I don't think it's a sure thing that the jury will decide on the death sentence. Public opinion in Boston, about a year ago, was 50/50 on that.

Maybe they meant one down, one to go. I don't know anybody who would let him live.

 

[markw]

Maybe they meant one down, one to go. I don't know anybody who would let him live.

I guess you haven't dealt with any dyed-in-the-wool liberals.

 

[Alex2507]

I guess you haven't dealt with any dyed-in-the-wool liberals.

I guess you don't know what union carpenter means.

We don't vote right.

 

[KEW]

I guess you haven't dealt with any dyed-in-the-wool liberals.

Media is constantly plying us with false concept!
Take abortion. The truth is (allow me to use very rough numbers here) 15% of people believe abortion is acceptable as birth control, 15% believe abortion should be prohibited for any situation (such as rape, or mortal threat to mom). If the media is going to talk about abortion, they are not going to pull from the mainstream 70%, they are going to pull from the 15% groups.
Same for any other hot-button topics. The media will try to find the most extreme they can among these extremes (Is the right properly represented by David Duke? Is the left properly represented by AL Sharpton?)!

When 24/7 news came to be, you suddenly had "news" in competition with sit-coms, game shows, soaps, etc. Smart people have figured out presenting extreme (not representative) viewpoints and marketing "fear" are their two best means to keep you watching!
Before 24/7 news, the news was, how shall I put it, news. It came on every evening and you watched the news, or turned the TV off. Now it is entertainment.

 

[Swerd]

Tsarnaev is found guilty on all counts. Hardly a surprise.

 

[Chu Gai]

Hope he gets the death penalty and they find a way to expedite it.

 

[KEW]

Hope he gets the death penalty and they find a way to expedite it.

I agree, but wouldn't want to expedite it too much (as in this month). There is something to be said for allowing him to ponder his demise (not to mention he'll get special attention from the inmates - even convicts have morals - in an immoral way)

 

[Swerd]

I agree with the death penalty. The sooner this guy is executed, the less opportunity various groups in the Arab world have to take hostages to exchange for him.

 

[KEW]

I agree with the death penalty. The sooner this guy is executed, the less opportunity various groups in the Arab world have to take hostages to exchange for him.

Good point, Didn't consider that possibility.
Honestly, I will be shocked if he is dead by the end of the year. Did they do anything to prevent appeals? I assume this is a civillian case.

 

[Chu Gai]

 

[Rickster71]

In her opening statement at the trial of the Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his defense lawyer, Judy Clarke admitted he is guilty.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-marathon-bombing-trial-opening-statements/

Why doesn't the judge call the defense lawyer and prosecutor to his chambers and ask for motions to end the trial? Guilty as charged. The evidence against this guy is overwhelming anyway, but why bother if the defense says on day 1 my client is guilty, "It was him". Move on to the sentencing part of the trial.

I don't know if there is such a thing as Speedy Justice or an Inexpensive Trial.
Seems like the norm is to wring out as much money from the system first.

Judy Clarke has made a name for herself by defending solely against the death penalty.
List of past clients have included the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski; Susan Smith, a woman who famously drowned her two children; Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph; and most recently Jared Loughner, who shot former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head. All received life sentences instead of the death penalty.

 

[Rickster71]

That's not the only teat they suckled.
Seems like the whole family hated the USA.... however, loved us for the government benefits:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/04/tsarnaev_family_received_100g_in_benefits
The Tsarnaev family, including the suspected terrorists and their parents, benefited from more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance — a bonanza ranging from cash and food stamps to Section 8 housing from 2002 to 2012, the Herald has learned.

“The breadth of the benefits the family was receiving was stunning,” said a person with knowledge of documents handed over to a legislative committee today.

 

[Chu Gai]

I read today that his mother wrote that her sons were innocent and America was the real terrorist. She referred to Tsarnaev as the best of the best.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren opposes the death sentence in part because nothing will make the victims whole.

To the first I say, is there no one that can make this woman in particular disappear? Hit by a car, fall off a cliff, gored by a boar, something?

To the second, nothing will make the victims whole. Letting him live will attract misguided women who find him attractive. He'll have the opportunity to radicalize others. Most importantly, by virtue of his actions, he's served notice upon society that he is an aberration, dangerous, a cancer, and unqualified to be called a human being. the remedy is a vaccination called death.

 

[jcparks]

From the beginning Tsarnaev's lawyer's weren't trying to prove Tsarnaev's innocence as the evidence against him was so damming. Their strategy is to make him appear to be the confused younger brother who was just following in big brothers foot steps in an attempt to get life in prison as opposed to the death penalty.
Weather he gets the death penalty or not will likely be a moot point. If he does, in Massachusetts, a very liberal state the odds of him actually being put to death are low. As it is right now the death penalty is in limbo in many states as European drug agencies have stopped providing us with the cocktail used to execute. So many states a attempting to come up with new humane ways of execution.
A few years ago the death penalty went back on the ballot in California, I actually voted against it as the whole process is a complete joke. I have been a correctional officer for 8 years now and of the 745 inmates on death row, not one has been executed.
Unfortunately the measure didn't pass and the farce death penalty continues to cost California billions in litigation...
Dont get me wrong, I'm not against the death penalty, but in today's society there is no efficient way to carry it out, and it is completely pointless.

 

[Swerd]

jcparks

All good points, however, Tsarnaev is being tried not by Massachusetts, but by the US Government. He will go to a high security federal prison somewhere, probably not in Massachusetts. The feds do occasionally execute people, for example, that looser who truck bombed the office building in Oklahoma in the early 1990s.

 

[jcparks]

Damn Swerd you're right I should have done my fact checking...
Looks like they streamlined the hell out of the McVeigh execution too, only 4 years.
Due to the similar nature of the crimes we could see similar results with Tsarnaev, however it has been 14 years since the McVeigh execution... I dunno we'll see, I'm still cynical.

 

[markw]

Considering that this country has provided tremendous financial support for this Chechnyn trash family, momma bomber has some chutzpah blaming all her little boys problems on the same country that welcomed them as refugees. Maybe they would be happier where they came from, or anywhere else for that matter.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316935/Boston-bombing-suspects-family-received-100-000-U-S-welfare-benefits.html

[edit] I see rick beat me to this. Sorry, Rick. I didn't mean to step on yer toes.