Jurors in the trial of accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have ended their first day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
After seven hours of deliberation on Tuesday, judge George O’Toole dismissed the jury for the evening by saying: “It’s been a long day. Time to call it a day.”
The jury is expected to come to a guilty verdict, and the delays may be explained by the complexity of the 32-page charge sheet with which they are being asked to wrestle.
Tsarnaev, who is charged on 30 separate counts, 17 of which carry a potential death sentence, was relaxed in court as the jury was dismissed.
If the jury find Tsarnaev guilty of any of those charges, the trial will move to a second phase, where jurors will hear evidence from new witnesses and then decide whether to sentence Tsarnaev to death. A vote for execution must be unanimous.
On Monday the prosecution appealed to the jury to find Tsarnaev guilty by describing in detail the attack, which left three dead, 17 maimed, and more than 200 injured.
At one point, assistant US attorney Aloke Chakravarty presented a montage of vivid pictures showing the aftermath of the bombing because, he said, “pictures speak louder than words.”
Tsarnaev’s defence have tried to portray him as coerced by his elder brother Tamerlan, a characterisation which they admitted bears little relevance in the ‘guilt’ phase of the trial but which will become crucial in the sentencing phase.
“For this destruction, suffering and profound loss, there is no excuse. No one is trying to make one. Planting bombs at the Boston Marathon one year and 51 weeks ago was a senseless act,” Tsarnaev defence attorney Judy Clarke said in her closing statement on Monday.
The jury is expected to reach a verdict by Wednesday or Thursday.
