Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's attorneys are arguing that the Boston Marathon bomber's trial was unfair, according to a document filed in court last week as part of an appeal to his death sentence.
Tsarnaev and his older bother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, set off the bombs that killed three people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon and injured more than 260 others. He was charged with 30 federal counts and received the death sentence in 2015.
Former Public Safety Secretary and Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral told Boston Public Radio Wednesday that she thinks some of the arguments hold weight, including an allegation that Islamophobia played a factor in the trial.
"It involves the playing of a slideshow of gruesome photographs of people who were murdered that day, and I guess over it an Islamic song is playing, that was found on the younger Tsarnaev's computer when they did the search warrant," said Cabral. "And the argument is being made that it was clearly to incite the passions of the jury that these people died by jihad — I think that's a much stronger argument (than others presented)."
Tsarnaev's lawyers also allege two jurors lied during the selection process, including the foreperson, who they say failed to tell officials she was sheltered in place in her home while authorities were searching for Tsarnaev.
Defense attorneys argue Tsarnaev's death sentence should be thrown out and he should be retried. During Tsarnaev's 2015 trial, the defense acknowledged he was one of the bombers, but sought a sentence of life imprisonment.
Andrea Cabral is a former Suffolk County Sheriff and former secretary of Public safety. She currently is CEO of Ascend.
