Jurors View Video Of Tsarnaev Giving Middle-Finger

Jurors weighing the punishment of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev saw footage Wednesday of the marathon bomber giving the middle finger to a security camera while in a holding cell before a 2013 court appearance.

A photo of the gesture was shown in court Tuesday by prosecution.

WBUR's Jack Lepiarz wrote about the photo in recapping Tuesday at trial:

[Prosecutor Nadine Pellegrini] closed her statements by revealing a previously unseen photograph of Tsarnaev just before his July 2013 arraignment.

In a courthouse jail cell, Tsarnaev is seen giving the middle finger to a security camera. “He is unrepentant, uncaring and untouched by the harm and sorrow that he created,” Pellegrini said.

The image was made public Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, jurors saw video from the surveillance camera — the sequence before and after the middle-finger photo was taken.

The video was presented by the defense.

In the footage, Tsarnaev looks up at the camera, climbs a bench to get right under the camera, adjusts his hair, holds up two fingers in a "V," then gives the middle finger. Tsarnaev then climbs down and sits down.

Wednesday was the second day of testimony in the penalty phase of the trial.

Having convicted Tsarnaev, the jury now must decide if he's to get life in prison or the death penalty.