The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit resolved to set aside his death sentence on five counts, saying the judge made a mistake several times.
The convictions on three of the charges for which Tsarnaev was convicted were overturned, the three-judge panel said.
But Tsarnaev is not leaving federal prison.
And just to be clear: As we are affirming the convictions (excluding the three § 924 (c) convictions) and the many life sentences imposed on the remaining charges (which Dzhokhar has not contested), Dzhokhar will remain confined in prison for the rest. of his life, and the only question that remains is whether the government will end his life by executing him, “says the opinion, author of Circuit Court Judge Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson.
The court ruled that Tsarnaev should receive a new trial in the criminalization phase.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers had argued that he did not receive a fair trial because Boston was the scene of the chaos. Lawyer Daniel Habib argued in December that the jury was made up of people directly affected by the terrorist plot who had already made a decision on Tsarnaev.
Surveillance video showed the brothers carrying the pressure cooker pumps in their backpacks and moving through the crowd near the finish line of the marathon in what federal prosecutors called a coordinated attack.
Tamerlan detonated the first bomb, a 6-quart pressure cooker containing gunpowder, nails, and ammunition, prosecutors said. The bomb killed Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, and permanently injured other people who lost their legs.
The second pressure cooker bomb, carried by Dzhokhar, exploded 12 seconds later and killed two people, Martin and Lu, a Chinese graduate student.
The bombings caused a human hunt for days that closed the city. The brothers, while fleeing, killed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, Sean Collier. After an SUV was stolen, the two were chased by the police.
Tamerlan died in an explosive shootout with police in nearby Watertown. Dzhokhar was arrested a day later.
CNN’s Mark Morales and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
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