Suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev this week pleaded not guilty to 30 charges related to the bombings, which killed three people and injured over 150 others back in April of this year.
According to a Boston Globe report, Tsarnaev’s relatives and more than 30 victims of the bombings packed a Boston courtroom to hear Tsarnaev himself issue not guilty pleas for seven different groups of charges, which include using weapons of mass destruction, carjacking, malicious destruction of property, and firearm charges. The charges carry the possibility of life in prison or the death sentence. Prosecutors allege that Tsarnaev had downloaded extremist Islamic teachings shortly before the bombings, and that he wrote a confession to the bombings in the boat where he was found.
Dzhokhar and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were involved in a shootout with Boston Police shortly after they became suspects in the bombings. Tamerlan was killed in the shootout, while Dzhokhar managed to escape and hide for nearly an entire day in a boat parked in a Watertown, Massachusetts backyard. Since his capture, Dzhokhar has claimed innocence, telling authorities that Tamerlan was the mastermind behind the bombings.
Dzhokar Tsarnaev’s next court hearing is scheduled for September 23.
(via Boston Globe)