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BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) say he was "a good kid" who was led down the path to terrorism by his increasingly fanatical older brother.
David Bruck pleaded with jurors to spare Tsarnaev's life as he delivered the defense's opening statement in the penalty phase of Tsarnaev's trial.
Bruck conceded that no punishment Tsarnaev can get would be equal to the suffering of the bombing victims, saying: "There is no evening the scales." Still, he argued that sentencing the 21-year-old to life in prison, rather than death, would end his legal case for good and deprive Tsarnaev of martyrdom.
Tsarnaev was convicted earlier this month in the twin bombings that killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 other people near the marathon's finish line on April 15, 2013. He was also found guilty of killing an MIT police officer during the Tsarnaev brothers' getaway attempt.
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187-v-33-(Rita Foley, AP correspondent)--The jury deciding the fate of the Boston Marathon bomber has heard from his lawyer. AP correspondent Rita Foley reports. (27 Apr 2015)
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188-c-19-(Rita Foley, AP correspondent)-"he told them"-AP correspondent Rita Foley reports on what Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyer told the jury. (27 Apr 2015)
<<CUT *188 (04/27/15)££ 00:19 "he told them"
APPHOTO NY108: FILE - This undated file photo released Friday, April 19, 2013, by the FBI shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev's life is on the line as his lawyers return to federal court to make their case that he should be spared the death penalty. Tsarnaev's defense team is set to begin presenting witnesses on Monday, April 27, 2015, in the penalty phase of his trial, the stage that will determine whether he is executed or spends the rest of his life behind bars. Tsarnaev, 21, already has been convicted of 30 federal charges in the twin bombings that killed three spectators and injured more than 260 others near the marathon's finish line on April 15, 2013. Seventeen of those charges carry the possibility of the death penalty. (AP Photo/FBI, File) (17 Sep 2014)
<<APPHOTO NY108 (09/17/14)££
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