Open Thread: Tales of Boat Boy [Y-not]

I haven't seen much coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombings trial at conservative sites. Here's a timeline of the bombings and aftermath.

The trial began on March 4th with twelve primary and six alternate jurors seated:

A jury of eight men and 10 women -- 12 primary jurors and six alternates -- is selected. Jurors include a house painter eager to "serve my country," a man in his 20s who is Baha'i and speaks Farsi, and a water department employee who says he thinks the death penalty would be "the easy way out."

*Boat Boy's defense team has admitted he did it. Here's his defense strategy:

More than once, Tsarnaev's lawyers have said in court proceedings that they were prepared to have their client plead guilty to all 30 charges -- which relate to the Marathon bombing, the shooting of an MIT police officer, a carjacking, and a shootout in Watertown -- and spend the rest of his life in prison if prosecutors would take the death penalty off the table.

The decision to seek the death penalty was made by US Attorney General Eric Holder, after hearing recommendations from US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

Though Clarke did not explain to the jury why Tsarnaev has not pleaded guilty, she said she wanted the jury to understand why he committed these acts, and that he should be spared a death sentence. She said she hopes to show him as overly influenced by a powerful older brother who hostaed a jihadist-motivated plot to kill and maim at the Marathon. The brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died during a shootout with police days after the bombing.

Needless to say, many of the victims and families of those killed have been attending, and in some cases testifying at, the trial:

Bill and Denise Richard loved going to the Boston Marathon, even before they had children.

In emotional testimony that brought tears to the eyes of several jurors in the ongoing trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- the survivor of two brothers accused of perpetrating the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing -- Richard described the day he and his family shared, before the blast that left him half-deaf, his wife half-blind, his daughter maimed and his youngest son dead.

Mr. Richard testified:

They walked up toward Boylston Street, and stopped in Ben and Jerry's for ice cream. "I can even remember everything we ordered," Richard said, his voice flat, his eyes far away. "It was a beautiful day."

The court was shown a picture, in which Tsarnaev was visible, wearing a white cap, peak-backward, behind where Richard and his family were standing. "Have you ever seen this person before?" asked Nadine Pellegrini, the assistant US attorney, for the prosecution. "Until today? In person? No," answered Richard.

When the first bomb went off, Richard said, he thought it was a sewer explosion. He tried to get his family over the barriers into the street. That's the last thing he remembered. The second bomb went off just beside him with what he described as an "ear-piercing" noise, blowing him into the street, severing Jane's leg and killing Martin.

The last time Richard saw Martin, he said, he knew from the colour of his skin that he was going to die. At the hospital with Jane, he said it was "like a scene from the movies".

"You know it's not good when you can see the look of horror on doctors' faces," he said.

On Thursday, the man kidnapped during the aftermath of the bombings testified:

Meng said he decided to make his escape after Tamerlan pulled into a gas station and Dzhokhar went inside to pay.

"Every time when I recall this, I think this is the most terrifying moment. It's the most difficult decision in my life," Meng said.

He unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the car door and dashed into the street.

"I can feel he was trying to grab me," he said. "He was shouting. He was saying some word."

Meng said he ran across the street to another gas station.

The jury saw dramatic surveillance video of Meng running inside the station, holding the door shut and begging the clerk to call 911. He then crouches down, goes behind the counter and crawls into a storage room.

"I am really worried they would follow me, so I was trying to find a place to hide," he said.

During cross-examination by the defense, Meng acknowledged that Tamerlan was the one who jumped in his car and threatened him with a gun. He said Dzhokhar barely spoke to him, except to ask if the sound system in his car would work with his iPhone.

Sick bastard.

The Boston Globe has detailed coverage.

If you're on Twitter, I recommend you follow:

Jim Armstrong, Reporter at WBZ, Boston's CBS affiliate

Carl Stevens, Radio reporter at WBZ NewsRadio 1030 in Boston

And crime reporter, Laurel Sweet:

We are back. #Tsarnaev smiles as he takes his seat. The piano music swells as trial teams confer. Chardonnay, anyone?

— Laurel J. Sweet (@Laurel_Sweet) March 11, 2015

Ms. Sweet has had some interesting reporting of Boat Boy's creepy demeanor throughout the trial. (And, apparently, the courtroom really does play music between proceedings. I saw it referenced by other reporters.)

*Flat Bomber's brother, who cowered in a boat while running from police, does not deserve a more dignified moniker than Boat Boy.

Speaking of trials, Aaron Hernandez's murder trial is also underway.

Open thread.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:45 AM

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