NEW YORK (Sputnik) — Tsarnaev, who was convicted on 30 counts stemming from the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon, faces the death penalty or life in prison.
“You [jurors] have viewed that evidence and it is only your view of the evidence that matters,” US District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., was quoted as saying by The Boston Globe. “The choice between these alternatives [life and death] is yours, and yours alone, to make.”
Judge O’Toole Jr. explained that Tsarnaev can be sentenced to death only if all jurors reach a consensus.
“All 12 jurors must agree that death is in fact the appropriate sentence,” O’Toole Jr. said, according to The Boston Globe.
If Tsarnaev is not sentenced to death, or a jury cannot reach a consensus, O’Toole Jr. added, he will sentence Tsarnaev to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Tsarnaev was convicted detonating bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, killing three people and injuring an estimated 264 others.
