The life Boston marathon bomber simply in the hands of jury

Now that a jury has convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on all charges, even more is at stake in the next phase of the federal trial: The same 12 people must decide whether the 21-year-old lives or dies.
Tsarnaev was found guilty yesterday of 30 counts against him, including conspiracy and deadly use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Seventeen of those charges are punishable by death. The verdict was considered practically a foregone conclusion since Tsarnaev's lawyer admitted he took part in the bombings.
The former college student was found responsible for the deaths of three people who died in the bombings as well as the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer who was gunned down days later as Tsarnaev and his now-dead brother, Tamerlan, attempted to flee.
In addition to the people who were killed, more than 260 others were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs packed with shrapnel exploded near the marathon's finish line on April 15, 2013, turning the traditionally celebratory home stretch of the world-famous race into a scene of carnage.

The defence lawyers, who barely cross-examined the prosecution's witnesses during the first part of the trial, are expected to become much more aggressive during the penalty phase, when they will make a case that Tsarnaev's life should be spared.
The defence gave a preview of its case during the trial when it insisted the then 19-year-old Tsarnaev was strongly influenced by his radicalised older brother, who was said to have masterminded the attack.
Tsarnaev's lawyers are expected to continue that theme, but also to explore the brothers' relationship more deeply and perhaps bring in evidence about Tsarnaev's life in Russia and the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, where the family lived before moving to the United States about a decade before the bombings. The defence can present any mitigating evidence it believes will persuade the jury life in prison is the appropriate punishment rather than death.
Legal analysts said they don't expect the defence case to contain any new revelations about Tsarnaev.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Tsarnaev and his brother - ethnic Chechens - as full partners in a plan to punish the US for its wars in Muslim countries. Tamerlan Tsar-naev, 26, died when he was shot by police and run over by his brother during a chaotic getaway attempt days after the bombing.
The jury must agree unanimously for Tsarnaev to receive a death sentence; otherwise the penalty will be life behind bars.