A Guilty Verdict In The Tsarnaev Trial

The Boston Marathon bomber—guilty. Now, a life or death decision, and what we’ve learned from the trial.

Guilty verdicts in the Boston Marathon bombing trial yesterday. Thirty guilty verdicts against young Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who – with his brother – planted pressure cooker bombs near the finish line on a bright race day two years ago. Bombs that killed and maimed on a scale that shocked the nation. Now, the jury moves on to decide the punishment. Death, or life without parole. And the country has a moment to reflect on what’s been learned here. About motivation. Alienation. Law enforcement. Life now.  This hour On Point: lessons in the Boston Marathon bombing.
-- Tom Ashbrook

David Boeri, senior reporter at WBUR. (@davidboeri)

J.M. Berger, research, analyst and writer. Non-residential fellow at the Brookings Institution's Project On US Relations With the Islamic World. Co-author, with Jessica Stern of "ISIS: The State of Terror." Also author of "Jihad Joe." (@intelwire)

Sheikh Dr. Yasir Qadhi, Sunni cleric and dean of academic affairs at the Al-Maghrib Institute. (@yasirqadhi)

Boston Globe: Tsarnaev guilty of Marathon bombings — "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted Wednesday of carrying out the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, which devastated a festive crowd near the world-renowned race’s finish line, killing three people and wounding more than 260 others. Tsarnaev, 21, who prosecutors said was a self-radicalized Muslim bent on striking a blow against America, now faces a second phase of his trial in which a jury will decide whether to sentence him to death. The second phase could begin within days."

New York Times: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Is Guilty in Boston Marathon Bombing Trial — "The defense hopes to present mitigating circumstances that show him as less culpable than his brother. It will flesh out details of Mr. Tsarnaev’s life and family history, which includes his forebears being expelled by Stalin from Chechnya in 1944 and ending up in Kyrgyzstan. His family settled in Cambridge, Mass., in 2002. As his parents divorced and returned to Russia, Mr. Tsarnaev, who became an American citizen on Sept. 11, 2012, fell increasingly under the sway of his older brother.

WBUR: A Look At The Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Jury — "A month after the trial of admitted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev began, the case is now in jurors’ hands. The jury was seated after more than seven weeks of jury selection, which began on Jan. 5. A total of 1,373 prospective jurors completed questionnaires over three days. On Jan. 15, Judge George O’Toole began questioning the potential jurors."