Supreme Court Reinstates Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Death Penalty

BOSTON — The Supreme Court has reinstated the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

In a 6-3 ruling issued Friday morning, the Supreme Court said his death sentence was improperly vacated by an appeals court that ruled a judge did not properly question jurors about their exposure to the bombings and did not allow evidence showing Tsarnaev's older brother heavily influenced him.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, "the court’s jury selection process was both eminently reasonable and wholly consistent with this Court’s precedents."

Thomas also wrote the district court was right in excluding evidence of how much influence Tamerlan Tsarnaev had on his younger brother. The district court judge said the evidence was "without any probative value" and "would be confusing to the jury."

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the dissenting opinion, saying the district court abused its discretion.

Despite President Joe Biden calling for an end to the federal death penalty, his Justice Department has pushed for it to be reinstated in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's case.

Tsarnaev was initially convicted on 30 crimes for the 2013 bombing that killed three and injured hundreds.

During the jury selection, the district court declined to include a proposed question asking prospective jurors disclose what it learned about the case from the media and other sources. The court thought the question was too "unfocused" and "unguided."

Tsarnaev's defense wanted to introduce evidence that would show his older brother's domineering influence over him in an attempt to mitigate responsibility. Efforts to include statements that tied Tamerlan Tsarnaev to a triple-murder in Waltham years earlier were denied on grounds they were irrelevant and potentially confusing.

An appeals court decided the district court abused its discretion, arguing a special level of scrutiny must be applied to death penalty cases.

But Thomas wrote the appeals court erred in that ruling, reversing it and reinstating the death penalty.