BOSTON (NEWS CENTER) -- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death.
After hearing three and a half weeks of testimony from Boston Marathon Bombing victims and people who knew Tsarnaev, it took the jury 15 hours to unanimously decide to give the convicted Marathon bomber the death penalty.
Tsarnaev showed no visible emotion and the courtroom was quiet while the verdict was read. Denise Richards, mother of victim Martin Richards, looked down and away while the verdict was read, with her head on her hand after learning of the death sentence she was against.
While they went through each of the counts, only two of 12 jurors said they felt Tsarnaev has expressed remorse for the suffering he caused. Eleven jurors did agree that friends who knew him to be thoughtful, caring and respectful of the rights and feelings of others. The defense's main argument was that the older brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind behind the bombing; only three jurors thought that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wouldn't have committed these crimes if it wasn't for Tamerlan.
Though Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death, it will likely be years until he is actually executed. First, the case will likely go through years of appeals.
The process usually starts with the first circuit court of appeals and there could also be a petition for review by the Supreme Court. Former federal prosecutor Jay McCloskey said the long appeal process is why people remain on death row for so long and why there haven't been any executions in recent years.
"You can expect...it will be years before it's ultimately carried out, if ever," he said.
One of the most likely arguments at the first level of appeals is an error in the trial. McCloskey said Tsarnaev's could argue that the trial shouldn't have been held in Boston.
"I always look at the O.J. Simpson case. And if that wasn't a high publicity case, I don't think anything was. And that remained in Los Angeles. So, it wasn't surprising that it wasn't moved," said McCloskey.
If the death penalty is maintained, Tsarnaev will join the 59 other inmates on death, with many of them waiting for reviews of their cases. The U.S. government has only executed three people since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated. Only one federal death row inmate has been granted clemency in the last 23 years. On the state level, Texas leads with the most executions, 521 since 1976. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty.
Timothy McVey was the first to be executed after the reinstatement of the federal death penalty. The 33-year-old was convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing. He was executed in Indiana at Terre Haute on June 11, 2001. Just a few days later, convicted Juan Raul Garza, a confessed drug trafficker and convicted murderer, was executed on June 19, 2001, also at Terre Haute. One time war hero Louis Jones Jr. was executed on March 18, 2003 after being convicted of kidnap, murder and rape.
When Tsarnaev's time for execution does finally arrive, it will be via an intravenous line at the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute. The federal prison is classified as high security. According to NPR, some people call the prison "Guantanamo North." Their investigation into the prison revealed a "special unit" with 50 cells that hold of the country's biggest security threats, many of which are not U.S. citizens and are disproportionately Muslim. According to the Federal Capital Habeas Project, male prisoners on death row at Terre Haute are housed in the special confinement unit that NPR investigated. Sometimes they first go to ADX Florence in Colorado and then transfer them. However, Terre Haute is outfitted with an execution chamber and is generally the prison of choice for those on death row.
"Time in federal prison on death row is not very nice, to say the least. They're in isolation a lot." said McCloskey
If he does go to ADX, which houses the most dangerous and well known criminals, including the unabomber Ted Kaczynski, the Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph and 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, it will still be a lonely existence. At only 21 years old, Tsarnaev has a long future ahead of him in the federal prison system.
Tsarnaev's defense lawyer, Judy Clarke, is one of the premiere opponents of capital punishment. She's had success in the past, and will be the on leading the appeals process.
"It basically never stops...a person on death row can spend their rest of their lives trying to overturn the execution," said Stacey Neumann, a former federal prosecutor.
One of the most likely arguments at the first level of appeals is an error in the trial. McCloskey said Tsarnaev's could argue that the trial shouldn't have been held in Boston.
Neumann said after the first circuit court level of appeal, his attorneys could try to appeal to the US Supreme Court. SCOTUS rarely takes up death penalty cases however. After that, he can petitio release for habeas corpus, citing issues like ineffective counsel. However, because he has an all star attorney team, arguments against the process of executions themselves are more likely.
"I think he has the best attorney he could possibly have and has made every argument that can be possibly made," said Neumann.
The appeals process could drag on for years. But Friday marks the end of a more than two year process for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.
"I hope this verdict provides a small amount of closure to the survivors, families, and all impacted by the violent and tragic events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon. We will forever remember and honor those who lost their lives and were affected by those senseless acts of violence on our city," said Mayor Marty Walsh in a statement.
Carlos Arredondo, who was at the finish line during the bombing, and his wife Melida said they fully support the jury's decision.
Even with the trial period over, it's never really over for the people who lived through it.
"We know all too well that no verdict can heal the souls of those who lost loved ones, nor the minds and bodies of those who suffered life-changing injuries from this cowardly attack. But the ultimate penalty is a fitting punishment for this horrific crime and we hope that the completion of this prosecution will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families," said Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
