Keller @ Large: Expect Tsarnaev Trial To Be Lengthy, Costly Legal Circus
BOSTON (CBS) - Jury selection in the trial of the accused Marathon bomber was set to start Monday after the courts rejected a last-minute effort by the defense to change the venue. And reading Judge George O'Toole's opinion gives you some insight into what we're about to go through, for better or worse.
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The defense team – described by some as an "all-star" team of experts in staving off the death penalty – claims this whole process is moving way, way too fast, and they aren't ready to properly take on such a complex case. But in O'Toole's opinion he rips the defense for the pace of their work so far.
You can expect to see more of this back-and-forth, thanks to the feds' decision to take on this case instead of letting it be handled in Suffolk Superior Court. That puts a heavier burden on the prosecution, which has to prove all sorts of complex elements of their case that wouldn't be necessary in state court.
More complexity means more work for and delay by the defense.
And then there's the defense contention, thinly-sourced, according to the judge, that the jury pool has been tainted by news coverage of the mass murders. They claim that because the entire region was experiencing some degree of terror, you couldn't muster an unbiased jury.
Judge O'Toole can't hide his incredulity, writing "the defendant appears to suggest that it would not be possible to find 18 qualified and capable jurors out of the millions" in the pool.
But as defense lawyer Harvey Silverglate notes, in a death penalty case the defense feels compelled to try any argument they can think of. Again, while capital punishment may well fit this crime, the feds' decision to try for it is magnifying the cost and complexity of the case.
Thanks, Uncle Sam, for turning what should be a realtively straightforward accounting into a lengthy, costly legal circus.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
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