Timothy McVeigh’s Counsel Speaks Out: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Defense Team’s First Priority is “To Save His Life”
San Jose, CA – May 6, 2013 – In an exclusive interview on The Costa Report, defense attorney, Stephen Jones, compared the case against Boston Marathon terrorist, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to the case against Timothy McVeigh, the young man charged, convicted, and executed for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. According to Jones, who led McVeigh’s defense team, proving Dzhokhar’s innocence due to “diminished capacity,” or any other reason, is secondary to the defense’s ethical and legal responsibility to avoid capital punishment. He said, “Our first objective is to save the client’s life, so (our thoughts were) maybe we should concentrate on avoiding the death penalty, and forgo the trial on the question of guilt or innocence.”
According to Jones “Tsarnaev’s defense is not without resources. . .” He pointed to several factors which will play a role in their overall strategy: First, Jones revealed the prosecution will have a difficult time justifying the “emergency exemption” evoked by law enforcement – the reason cited for not Mirandizing Dzhorkhar prior to his interrogation. Dzhorkhar was incapacitated in the hospital, and the “lock-down” in Boston had been lifted for some time, so according to Jones “ I don’t believe the government will be able to prove an emergency existed.”
Second, whereas Massachusetts prohibits the death penalty, the case is now under Federal jurisdiction due to the “use of a weapon of mass destruction” and the presence of an “ideological component.” Jones indicates there is no precedence as to whether a Federal court may sentence a criminal to death if the offense was committed in a state where capital punishment is prohibited.
Third, in the case of Terry Nichols - the co-conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing, -it was “the first time that a criminal has been convicted of killing 168 people and sentenced to life in prison instead of death.” Jones says this landmark case proved that the defense could attack the evidence just enough to cause a jury to be reluctant to execute in spite of unanimously finding a defendant guilty of the first degree murder of 168 civilians.
But the most important lesson the Tsarnaev defense can glean from the McVeigh case may be the role the media played in cementing his execution. According to Jones, “Mr. McVeigh’s jury results could have been much different but for the Dallas Morning News disclosure – and ABC Primetime and the Playboy article – on the defense chronology, which relied upon stolen documents from the defense. Had that not been so pervasively received in the Denver community, I’m not so sure Mr. McVeigh would have been convicted as he was.”
For the full interview with Stephen Jones visit http://www.rebeccacosta.com/the-costa-report.htm.
About The Costa Report
The Costa Report is post-partisan weekly radio program hosted by American sociobiologist, and author, Rebecca D. Costa. The program was launched in 2010 in concert with the release of Costa’s bestselling book, The Watchman’s Rattle. The Costa Report consists of a one-hour, in-depth interview with a renowned newsmaker, followed by a second hour of listener telephone calls. Guests on The Costa Report have included Ron Paul, John Bolton, Jared Diamond, Alan Dershowitz, Pat Buchanan, Michael Dukakis, Paul Ehrlich, Ralph Nader and others. The Costa Report currently boasts over 3 million worldwide listeners. For more information visit www.rebeccacosta.com
About Rebecca D. Costa www.rebeccacosta.com
Rebecca Costa is a sociobiologist who offers an evolutionary explanation for current events and emerging trends. A new voice in the mold of Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Gladwell, Costa attributes modern consternation - from terrorism, crime on Wall Street, epidemic obesity and upheaval in the Middle East - to genetic imperatives. Retiring from a career in Silicon Valley, Costa spent six years researching and writing The Watchman’s Rattle. The success of the book in 25 countries led to a weekly radio program called The Costa Report. In 2012, The Costa Report was syndicated by the Business TalkRadio Network and the VoiceAmerica Business Channel. Costa is presently represented by the American Progam Bureau and the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. For more information visit www.rebeccacosta.com
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