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US court of appeal cancels Boston Marathon bomber’s death penalty

The matter is remanded to the district court with directions to hold a new penalty-phase trial
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev FBI via AP
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
© FBI via AP

NEW YORK, August 1. /TASS/. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has cancelled the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death for organizing the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon blast, according to judicial documents uploaded to the court database.

"Dzhohkar Tsarnaev's death sentences on Counts 4, 5, 9, 10, and 14 are vacated," the document says. "The matter is remanded to the district court with directions to hold a new penalty-phase trial."

US President Donald Trump described the court decision as 'ridiculous.'

"I see in Boston, where you have the animal that killed so many people during the Boston Marathon. They just sent this conviction for the death penalty back to the lower courts so they’ll argue about that for a long time. It’s ridiculous," Trump said.

Twin blasts with an interval of 12 seconds rocked downtown Boston on April 15, 2013, when the traditional Boston Marathon was taking place. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured. Several days later, police identified the suspected organizers as Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Tamerlan was killed in the police operation to detain him, while his brother was injured and arrested. In April 2015, a jury found him guilty on all 30 charges and sentenced him to death.

In December 2018, the verdict was appealed. According to the Tsarnaev’s lawyers, the decision not to transfer the hearings to another city, as requested by the defense team, deprived Tsarnaev of the right to fair trial. In their opinion, the jury could not be fully impartial, because the blast took place in their home city.