Boston Marathon trial: prosecutors rest case after arguing for death sentence

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/23/boston-marathon-trial-prosecutors-death-sentence

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Federal prosecutors have rested their case after arguing that a jury should sentence to death convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, calling as their final witness a man who lost a leg in the bombing.

The defense is expected to present its case – urging jurors to spare Tsarnaev’s life – on Monday. He was convicted earlier this month of all 30 charges against him. Three people were killed and more than 260 others were wounded when twin bombs exploded at the 2013 marathon.

A woman whose left leg was amputated after the Boston Marathon bombing described her own painful loss in court on Thursday, then identified photos of 16 others who lost limbs as prosecutors tried to drive home the brutality of the attack to jurors who will decide the bomber’s fate.

Heather Abbott said she was catapulted through the entrance of a restaurant when the second bomb exploded near the marathon finish line on 15 April 2013. She said her foot felt like it was on fire, so she began crawling to follow a crowd of people trying to get away from the bomb.

Later, in the hospital, a doctor recommended amputating her left leg below the knee. Her heel had been entirely blown off, and her foot was severely damaged.

“It was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” she said.

Prosecutor Nadine Pellegrini asked Abbott to identify photographs of other amputees she has come to know since the bombing. The photos showed the amputees wearing prosthetic limbs, in wheelchairs and on crutches.

Another amputee, Marc Fucarile, testified on Thursday from a wheelchair.

Fucarile, whose right leg was blown off in the bombing, glared at Tsarnaev as he sat about 10 feet (3 meters) away at a table with his lawyers. Tsarnaev did not look at him and stared straight ahead impassively.

Fucarile said he has had more than 60 surgeries. Two years after the bombing, it is still unclear whether his left leg can be saved, he said.“We are going to try,” he said.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.