Supreme Court Takes Up Boston Marathon Bomber Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today took up the case of the Boston Marathon Bomber for full briefing and argument. See previous posts here and here. It is too late in the present term to hear argument of this case, so it will be heard in the term beginning next October.

The case is United States v. Tsarnaev, No. 16-443.

The Questions Presented, as drafted by the Solicitor General, are:

1. Whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that respondent’s capital sentences must be vacated on the ground that the district court, during its 21-day voir dire, did not ask each prospective juror for a specific accounting of the pretrial media coverage that he or she had read, heard, or seen about respondent’s case.

2. Whether the district court committed reversible error at the penalty phase of respondent’s trial by ex-cluding evidence that respondent’s older brother was allegedly involved in different crimes two years before the offenses for which respondent was convicted.