Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Death Penalty Appeal Set

BOSTON— More than four years after he was sentenced to death for his part in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's case is set to return to court. A federal judge this week said oral arguments in the Boston Marathon bomber's death sentence appeal will happen Dec. 12.

Tsarnaev's attorney will also be allowed to review the last sealed FBI interview of Ibragim Todashev before an FBI agent killed him, according to federal court records made public this week.

The defense team requested and will get the recordings of Ibragim Todashev's final interview with law enforcement, before he was killed. The FBI said Todashev implicated himself and Tamerlan in the 2011 murder of three Waltham men.

Tsarnaev's lawyers said it was impossible for an impartial jury to be selected in Boston. They also said the trial judge committed a "grave error" by not permitting the defense to tell jurors that Tamerlan was connected to the 2011 Waltham triple-murder ahead of the bombings.

"This proof went to the heart of his defense: that Tamerlan was a killer, an angry and violent man; that he conceived and led this conspiracy," Tsarnaev’s lawyers wrote in December court documents. "The exclusion of this mitigating evidence violated the Eighth Amendment and yielded a verdict unworthy of confidence."

Only two specific defense lawyers will be permitted to review the tapes and cannot share those with anyone, including Tsarnaev. According to court documents, any motions filed as a result of the tapes (like a motion to suppress) and the state's response, must be under seal.

Tsarnaev was sentenced to death in 2015 for orchestrating — alongside his brother — the April 15, 2013, bombings that killed three people and injured more than 250 others. The pair also shot at a police officer who was killed in the ensuing manhunt. Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, was also killed in the manhunt.

High-ranking law enforcement officials said he deserved the death penalty and knew what he was getting into. Tsarnaev's lawyers claimed he was under the influence of his older brother, Tamerlan. Tsarnaev was 19 years old at the time of the bombings.

Tsarnaev is being held at a prison in Colorado, and isn’t expected to show.

• Jury Sentences Dzohkzar Tsarnaev to Death for Boston Marathon Bombing (2015)
• Boston Marathon Bomber Hospital Notes Released (2018)
• Feds Urge Rejection Of Boston Marathon Bomber's Appeal (June)

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).