He is in an individual cell 23 hours a day. The single hour he is out for exercise he is alone in a room. He is never exposed to the general population and never exposed to any other prisoner.
And the cells and the paraphernalia such as his prison uniform and sheets are designed to prevent suicide.
Unless he is eventually executed, pretty much certain his eventual death will be of natural causes.
The appeals court judges believed that the trial Judge (George O’Toole) failed to conduct a vigorous enough voir dire during jury selection. In particular, the Judge failed to allow defense attorneys to ask questions probing enough to determine hidden biases among the potential jurors. In doing so, he violated the Patrarca legal standard referenced below.
Patriarca v. United States, 402 F.2d 314, 318 (1st Cir. 1968)
Having read the summary of the facts, I must agree with the appeals court here. Judge O’Toole failed to conduct a vigorous enough voir dire. Vacating the death sentences and remanding for re-sentencing is the appropriate remedy.
I would note that the appeals court ruled that Judge O’Toole did NOT abuse his discretion by refusing defense change of venue motions.
So if a retrial occurs it may still happen in Boston.
It looks like the government will appeal straight to the Supreme Court, foregoing an appeal to the en banc 1st Circuit, which would most likely be declined.
I also see little to no chance of success at the Supreme Court. I think the Supreme Court will simply decline any appeal without comment.
And it looks almost certain that once they get turned down on that appeal, they will go ahead and seek a new sentencing trial for Tsarnaev.
I’m all for Tsarnaev patticipating in a Hunger Games with Dylan Roof and other mass murderers. It would be a lot quicker, and honestly, entertaining. Just no training allowed; straight to the Games. It would serve as a reminder of what people shouldn’t do. Don’t want to be reaped for your own death? Don’t do that to other people! Simple as that.
The point of this thread is not whether the death penalty should be legal or should be invoked.
Rather, as long as the death penalty is legal, we must observe the utmost due process in administering it.
Tsarnaev did NOT get the utmost due process. His attorneys were denied the opportunity to more thoroughly question two problematic jurors. The decision vacate his sentence was proper.