United States v. Tsarnaev
United States Supreme Court
595 U.S. 302 (2022)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (defendant) was charged with 30 crimes related to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. During jury selection, the parties jointly drafted 100 questions for screening purposes. The trial court adopted most of the questions but rejected a question that asked the jurors to list everything they learned about the case through the media. The court stated that the question was too broad and lacked needed guidance. There were other media-related questions that the court did adopt that were aimed to probe into prospective jurors’ potential bias. Further, the court permitted counsel to ask specific follow-up questions about what prospective jurors learned from the media. The jury found Tsarnaev guilty and recommended the death penalty. The trial court sentenced Tsarnaev to death. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the death penalty. Invoking its supervisory power, the court found that it was error not to ask the jurors to list everything they had learned about the case through the media. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Thomas, J.)
Concurrence (Barrett, J.)
Dissent (Breyer, J.)
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