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Jury In Boston Marathon Bombing Trial Asks Complicated Questions

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — The jury in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev resumed deliberations Thursday to decide whether he deserves life in prison or the death penalty.

Read: WBZ Reporters' Live Updates From Court

Jurors received the penalty phase of the case late Wednesday and deliberated for less than an hour.

About two hours into their day Thursday, they asked three complicated questions, including one about the legal concepts of "aiding and abetting" and "conspiracy."

The judge asked the jury to re-write the question and re-submit it.

Read: Jury Faces Complicated Verdict Form

In closing arguments, prosecutors reminded jurors of the pain and suffering caused by the bombing and said Tsarnaev, 21, deserves to die for what he did.

But Tsarnaev's lawyer said he was an "invisible" teenager in a dysfunctional family who was led astray by his older radicalized brother Tamerlan and deserves a chance at redemption.

Jury Tsarnaev
Jurors and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in court on May 14, 2015 (Sketch credit: Jane Rosenberg)

The jury will decide either unanimously for death or unanimously for life in prison.

If there can be no unanimous decision, then the court will be bound to impose a life sentence.

Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when two pressure-cooker bombs packed with shrapnel exploded near the marathon finish line April 15, 2013 on Boylston Street.

Boston Marathon Bombings Victims
(Left to right) Martin Richard, 8; Krystle Campbell, 29; Lingzu Lu, 23; MIT Police officer Sean Collier, 26.

The brothers killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer days later.

Tamerlan, 26, died after a shootout with police in Watertown.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted by the same jury last month of all 30 counts against him, including use of a weapon of mass destruction.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

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