Marathon bomber loses bid for new trial, told to pay $101M

A federal judge on Friday rejected Boston
Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's bid for a
new trial and ordered him to pay victims of the
deadly attack more than $101 million in
restitution.
The restitution order, issued by Judge George
O'Toole Jr., is seen as largely symbolic because
Tsarnaev is in federal prison and has no ability to
pay.
Tsarnaev, 22, was convicted and sentenced to
death last year in the 2013 attack. Two pressure
cooker bombs placed near the marathon finish
line by Tsarnaev and his brother killed three
people and injured more than 260 others.
Tsarnaev also was convicted of killing a
Massachusetts Institute of Technology police
officer days later. During the sentencing hearing
Tsarnaev admitted that he and his brother
committed the bombings, and he apologized to
the victims.
His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died days
after the bombing following a gunbattle with
police.
The judge, in his order denying Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev a new trial, noted that he and a federal
appeals court had previously rejected arguments
from Tsarnaev's lawyers that he could not receive
a fair trial in Boston, where many people knew the
victims or had connections to the marathon. The
defense also cited intense and continuing local
news coverage of the victims and the anniversary
of the bombings.
But the judge said the victims, the trial and other
marathon-related events also were covered widely
by national and international news organizations.
"There is no reason to think — and certainly
no specific evidence — that this extensive
coverage would have been any different in
kind or degree if the trial had been
conducted elsewhere," he wrote in his order.
Liz Norden, the mother of two men who each lost
a leg in the bombings, said she was pleased the
judge denied Tsarnaev's request for a new trial.
"I personally think he did get a fair trial,"
she said. "He said he did it. He admitted to
it. I don't know why they would even
consider that what he got was not
deserving."
Norden said even though it's obvious Tsarnaev
won't be able to pay the restitution ordered by
the judge, the order is meaningful.
"I don't think you could ever put a price tag
on what any of the victims went through,
but to know that the judge took a step and
did that, it means something to me," she
said.