Phase Two of Boston Marathon Bombing Trial Begins

It was announced back on April 14 that the penalty phase of the Boston Marathon bombing trial wouldn’t commence until after both the two-year anniversary of the blasts and this year’s marathon event.

The penalty phase of the trial began on Tuesday, April 21, a day after the 2015 race, with Judge O’Toole advising jurors not to sentence based on what they think the victims’ families might want.

“This is your decision alone,” he said. “You must not consider the defendant’s or the victims’ race, color, religious beliefs, national origin or sex.”

Debate over whether Tsarnaev should get the death penalty intensified recently after the parents of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy who was killed in the bombings, urged federal authorities to consider taking death off the table. The Richard family prefers Tsarnaev spends the rest of his life in prison and gives up his rights to appeal.

>>> See also: Family of Martin Richard: ‘Drop the Death Penalty’

“We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives,” Bill and Denise Richard said in a statement to The Boston Globe last week.

Bombing survivor Celeste Corcoran, who has two prosthetic legs because of the blasts, was called to the stand Tuesday. She attended the 2013 race to support her sister who was running in the event. Concoran’s daughter Sydney testified in the first phase of the trial.

Concoran and her family ended up moving as close to the finish line as they could to see her sister cross. They reached the front of Marathon Sports.

After hearing this part of Corcoran’s recollection, the jury was shown a photo of the family standing in the crowd moments before the explosions.

Corcoran described in horrific detail the pain and anxiety she endured immediately after the blasts. After being transported to Boston Medical Center and having surgery to amputate both of her legs, Concoran found out her daughter Sydney was at the same facility. The two shared a hospital room during their respective recovery processes.

Survivor Gillian Reny and William Campbell, III, brother of victim Krystle Campbell, were the next two to testify. The Campbell siblings were humanized through childhood photographs shown to the jury. William Campbell, Jr., Krystle’s father, was called to the stand after his son. He reminisced about his relationship with Krystle.

Nicole Gross, a visitor from Maryland, was in Boston to support her mother who was running in the event. She recounted her own injuries and that of her family’s.

Keep visiting Patch for updates on this developing story.

On April 8, admitted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty on 30 counts of helping to orchestrate and carry out the explosions that killed three people and wounded another 260 people on April 15, 2013.

The judge, who warned jurors not to attend the 2015 Boston Marathon, anticipates that the penalty phase of the trial will take about four weeks to complete.

>>> See also: Boston Marathon Trial Judge: ‘Phase Two is Likely to Take About Four Weeks’

Boston Marathon bombing survivors, including those who were in the courtroom when the verdict was read, spoke of being relieved that the verdict was guilty on all counts.

“Nothing can ever replace the lives that were lost or changed forever, but at least there is some relief in knowing that justice is served and responsibility will be taken,” said Heather Abbott, who lost a leg in the bombings.

“At the scene of the Marathon bombings, I saw firsthand the aftermath of terrible suffering and the beginning of an incredibly meticulous investigation,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. “Today’s verdicts reflect both: almost 100 separate findings by a jury that convicted on all counts. For the families of Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu and Sean Collier, I can only hope this brings some sense of satisfaction that justice has finally been done.”

Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, placed the explosives that killed three people and injured more than 260 people on Patriots’ Day 2013.

The trial, which started on March 4 after a lengthy jury selection process, included defense attorney Judy Clarke admitting to the jury that her client was responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings. The decision was integral in the Tsarnaev team’s aim to save him from the death penalty.

>>>Click here to read a Patch recap of the trial

Here is a look back at the trial:

Beginning of March

• Survivors of the attack, such as Heather Abbott and Marc Fucarile, sat quietly in court during the proceedings on opening day. Abbott and Fucarile both lost a leg in the bombing. The parents of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old who was killed in one of the blasts, were also present in the courtroom. Jurors saw videos of the traumatic scene of the bombs going off at the Boston Marathon finish line and the chaotic aftermath of the blasts.
• Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb said Tsarnaev “believed the United States government is the enemy of Muslim people.”
• Rebekah Gregory, who lost a leg in the bombings, testified against Tsarnaev and released a letter she wrote to him, calling him a coward.

An excerpt from Gregory’s letter:

You did take a part of me. Congratulations you now have a leg up-literally. But in so many ways, you saved my life. Because now, I am so much more appreciative of every new day I am given.

• Graphic photos of the three bombing victims who were killed at the finish line were shown to jurors, as was the murder of MIT’s Officer Sean Collier in Watertown, who was shot by the Tsarnaev brothers in the days after the bombings.

Middle of March

• Jurors saw a compilation of video surveillance images that showed the Tsarnaev brothers maneuvering through Boylston Street before, during and after the blasts.
• The note written by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev while he was hiding from police on a Watertown boat days after the attack was shown in court.
• Jurors watched surveillance video of what prosecutors say is the Tsarnaev brothers approaching Collier’s cruiser before he was shot to death. Two bloodied white gloves found inside Tamerlan’s car matched Collier’s DNA profile.
• Surveillance footage of Dun Meng escaping the bombers was shown to jurors. Meng, victim of a carjacking by the Tsarnaev pair, testified that Tamerlan had jumped into his car, pointed a gun at his head and told him to drive. Meng said Dzhokhar took his bank card and demanded his PIN number before withdrawing $800 from a Watertown ATM.

>>>Watch the Dun Meng surveillance footage here

Late-March

• Prosecutors rested their case on March 30 after jurors, many weeping, saw the ripped clothing of Martin Richard the day of the bombing.
• The defense rested its case on Tuesday, March 31.

Photo: WHDH

More Boston Marathon trial coverage on Patch:

• Recapping the Boston Marathon Bombing Trial
• Boston Marathon Trial: Death of Little Boy Recounted in Chilling Detail
• Watch: Gripping Video of Carjacked Victim’s Escape from Boston Marathon Bombers
• Shades of Infamous Child Killer Case Hang Over Tsarnaev Trial
• Boston Marathon Bomber Trial Begins, Defense Attorney: ‘It Was Him’
• Alleged Boston Marathon Bomber’s Widow Could Face Criminal Charges
• Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect’s Lawyers Seek Indictment Dismissal
• Tsarnaev Lawyers: Delay Trial Over Paris Attacks
• Death Penalty Complicates Boston Bomber Trial