Introduction
The Boston Marathon is one of the oldest running marathons in United States history. Many people participate in the race which was established in the memory of two battles in history that started what we know now as the revolutionary war. In 2013 this marathon ran as scheduled however, at the end of the marathon something happened that would change the history of the event as we know it. As the marathon concluded and racers reached the finish line two explosions were detonated which resulted in the injury of 260 people and the death of three others. The bombing was quickly investigated and as a result one man was apprehended and his accomplice which was also his brother died when police confronted him and ended up having to shoot him when the brother opened fire on them. The man who was caught later gave investigators information about the events that day and what led up to the attack. It was concluded that the attack during the marathon was planned however; the two brothers were not involved with any terrorist groups. The brother who was apprehended and charged with the crimes that occurred that day was then scheduled to face the courts for his crime later the following year. The events of that terrible day affected the United States as a nation in a very traumatic way. The innocent people that were injured because of these unwarranted attacks included many young children who were just watching the runners. Many people lost limbs as a result of the explosions including a seven year old child. One of the people that were killed during the bombing was also a young child. The race was meant to be an inspiration and that fateful day many innocent people were affected but not deterred. The man who was caught and stood trial for this attack was Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleads not guilty when charges were brought against him. He has been incarcerated while he awaits a trial where he will likely be facing a conviction resulting in the death penalty for his part in the bombings (Networks, 2016).
Description of the Case
The crimes that were committed or nature of the offense can take up an entire list. The Boston bomber was responsible for a lot of devastation therefor if the punishment is to fit the crime he must be charged with every law that he broke that day. The Boston bomber was charged with thirty different charges, sixteen of the charges could result in a sentence of the death penalty. On the top of the list was the crime that he conspired to use a weapon of mass destruction which resulted in death and of course the following charge which was that his use of this weapon did result in deaths. Possession of a firearm as well as using a firearm during the criminal act, malicious destruction and many more charges were filed to thoroughly demonstrate the crimes committed and pursue the criminal responsible. These crimes were only from the list of acts committed which could have earned the sentence of the death penalty. Along with those were lesser charges however still as serious like carjacking which resulted in a person being injured and again using a gun in a violent criminal manner (Levinson, 2016).
When Tsarnaev committed the violent acts at the Boston marathon he was a legal adult being 19 years old at the time but that did not stop his attorneys from using the defense that he was too young to know better. They claimed that his brain had not reached the full capacity of an adult’s brain and therefor his punishment should reflect this since he was influenced by an older sibling in hopes that he would not be given the death penalty. Tsarnaev is someone who would fall into the lines that researchers have determined to be susceptible because of his age and the development of the brain at this age. Research shows that acts even as violent and tragic as the ones he committed can be explained by peer pressure. This is because Tsarnaev could be considered to be easily pressured because he cared what his brother thought of him and he still did not know who he was as a result of his underdeveloped mentality (Goldstein, 2016).
Police Procedures
The police and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) worked together diligently to find the person(s) responsible for the Boston marathon bombing and bring them to justice. The police teams were made up of both local and state officers immediately made sure that the scene of the criminal act could not be tampered with so they would not lose any evidence. As a result of the hard work and immediate response by officers there were suspect photos that were made available for the public only two days after the incident. The quick actions of securing the scene and any footage of the area before the crime made it easier for police officers to capture those that were responsible. The footage they collected allowed them to look for anything that might have stood out at the time before the bombings as something that might look out of place. They were looking for people that appeared to be overly nervous or someone that was leaving a package behind that did not belong. The two men responsible immediately reacted to the public knowledge of their faces and the men stole a car only three days after the attack. When the man stole the car he had brief contact with the person that he stole it from before the person was able to escape. During this time he confided in the victim and spoke of the bombing. The victim was later able to tell officers about the conversation and lead them to the man responsible for the attacks. The officers used tracking from the car to find it but the man inside opened fire and police responded by shooting and killing the first suspect. The second man responsible was identified later because he was the brother of the suspect that was shot and killed. Even though the second man got away from police it was only a short amount of time until he was captured and charges were pressed against him for his part in the Boston marathon bombings. When the suspect escaped officers shut down the town and began to search. A tip from a citizen led them to the second suspect who tried to hide on the citizen’s property (Management, 2016).
Court Proceedings
The trial for the suspect in the Boston marathon bombing was held in front of a federal jury and it lasted three months before jurors were able to make a decision on if the suspect was guilty of the crime he was accused of. In the end Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty for his involvement in the attack and was sentenced to death for his crimes. The thing that stood out the most during the trial was that Tsarnaev showed no emotions during the trial or the sentencing. Tsarnaev faced charges for the bombs that his brother used in the attack also and he faced charges for an officer that was killed while pursuing him and his brother. For these charges he received a life in prison sentence. The defense attempted to show that the older brother and deceased suspect was the ring leader in an attempt to redirect the guilt. The decision was not an easy one for any of the jurors as the state that the trial was held in does not support the death penalty in its entirety. However all of the jurors came to the same conclusion and that was that Tsarnaev was guilty and the punishment he deserved was the death penalty.
Sentencing
Many believe the decision will be appealed but an equal amount believe that this strong punishment will let other people know that attacks like this will never be tolerated. Seventeen of the charges brought against the suspect made him eligible to receive the death penalty. Out of all of these charges he was doomed if even one of them was a charge that he was found guilty on. As the decision was read aloud in the courtroom it became evident that the bomb Tsarnaev was responsible for setting up had killed two people and this had sealed his fate. However, After 16 days of trial and 95 witness accounts of the fateful day of the attack Tsarnaev was forced to face the decisions that were made on the thirty charges that were pressed against him for his part in the Boston marathon bombings. The decision despite the defenses techniques was that Tsarnaev was sentenced to death. Most of the jurors saw this as the only rightful punishment, all of them saw it as necessary (Valencia, 2015).
Analysis and Impact the Case has/had/will have on the American Criminal Justice System Process
The Boston bombing marathon case will have a major impact in the future considering the criminal justice system and process in many ways. First of all in the future the things that will be considered to be most important are security measures that are and need to be in place during major events to prevent attacks like this one. The agencies that are considered responsible cannot always prevent attacks but they can use this attack as an example to show them what they missed and can look for in the future to prevent another from happening. Security was already increased following the attacks on 9/11 and the follow up attacks in Boston only brought people to believe that the increase was not enough. The problem that the law enforcement agencies face in these situations is being able to detect threats without breaching any one person’s constitutional rights. The agencies are able to compensate for the lack of information they can gather due to protections awarded by the constitution but they can only do this by learning from their mistakes. In the case of the Boston marathon investigators are able to look at the security of big events like this race and determine if it is enough to prevent future attacks. If they spot anything that could have prevented the attack they can train law enforcement and other officials on what they can look for. Some examples of preventative measures that can be put into place as a result of the fateful attack know how to look for suspicious activity and things that seem out of place which might be a threat to innocent people. There will always be a new way that terrorists will use to pull of an attack of this proportion but law enforcement can use the clues that the previous attackers left behind to prevent future attacks (Jenkins, 2016).
Conclusion
Terrorist attacks are not something that our nation is new to experiencing however, the magnitude of the attacks has increased and the results of this increase are a devastating amount of lost lives. Since September 11th and the terrorist attacks on the twin towers the government agencies responsible for the nation’s security have increased security measures because the events that happened on that day suggest that more extreme attacks might be something that can be expected in the future (Huisain, 2016). Even with the added security there are times that a terrorist is still able to come up with something new that intelligence agencies and law enforcement miss. This seems to be the case with the Boston marathon. Two men were able to go undetected while planning and carrying out an attack on a lot of innocent people that were running a marathon in memory of the nation’s history. As a result of this attack many people were injured and killed. Two bombs went off during the marathon causing massive injuries and chaos and the chase that ensued ended up taking an officers life. The men responsible were able to be identified in a timely manner because of law enforcements ability to work together with other agencies. Understanding how to stop terrorist and prevent these types of attacks is something that is considered a very difficult task. The events during the Boston marathon gave investigators some insight as to how these can be prevented. Another important thing that can be done is finding a way to determine what motivates terrorist to commit these acts. To do this researchers say that we must figure out what they are thinking (Post, McGinnis & Moody, 2014). In the meantime all that can be done is make sure that there are serious consequences for people who commit violent acts terrorism. From this day forward any person thinking of committing or being involved in a terrorist act will also have to face the reality that he or she may face the death penalty if apprehended.
References
Goldstein, D. (2016). The neuroscience that failed to sway the Tsarnaev jury. The Marshall Project. Retrieved 4 March 2016, from https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/01/08/the-teenage-brain-of-the-boston-bomber#.oLraKMflR
Huisain, R. (2016). PREVENTING THE NEW INTERNMENT: A SECURITY-SENSITIVE STANDARD FOR EQUAL PROTECTION CLAIMS IN THE POST- 9/1 1 ERA. TEXAS JOURNAL ON CIVIL LIBERTIES & CIVIL RIGHTS, 31(1), 119-127.
Jenkins, B. (2016). How Will the Boston Bombing Change How We Fights Terrorism?. Slate Magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2016, from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/04/the_boston_marathon_bombing_how_will_the_tragedy_change_the_way_america.html
Levinson, E. (2016). The Charges Against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Explained in Plain English. Boston.com. Retrieved 4 March 2016, from http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/02/12/the-charges-against-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-explained-plain-english/CkoC7HiL8NPLAoiXdsm5aP/story.html
Management, E. (2016). After Action Report for the Response to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings (1st ed., pp. 1-8). Masachusetts: Masachusetts Emergency Management. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/mema/after-action-report-for-the-response-to-the-2013-boston-marathon-bombings.pdf
Networks, H. (2016). Boston Marathon Bombings - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. HISTORY.com. Retrieved 4 March 2016, from http://www.history.com/topics/boston-marathon-bombings
Post, J., McGinnis, C., & Moody, K. (2014). The Changing Face of Terrorism in the 21st Century: The Communications Revolution and the Virtual Community of Hatred. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 32(3), 306-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2123
Valencia, M. (2015). Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sentenced to death for Boston Marathon bombing - The Boston Globe. BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 4 March 2016, from http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/05/15/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-penalty-sentencing-jury-boston-marathon-bombing/canMEfLmeQJxQ4rFU0sERJ/story.html
