At the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial the death penalty is due to be discussed today in court. The state of Massachusetts doesn't have death penalty.
Federal prosecutors will push Oct. 31 as their deadline to recommend to the U.S. Department of Justice whether terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be put to death if convicted of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, Boston Globe reports.
If the DOJ greenlights capital punishment, prosecutors expect to make the announcement by Jan. 31, according to court documents filed on Friday.
At the request of Tsarnaev’s defense team, the death penalty debate will be taken up this morning at Tsarnaev’s status conference before U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., according to a joint status report filed with the court. Tsarnaev, held without bail, will not attend.
Tsarnaev faces 30 charges, 17 of which carry a possible death penalty.
