Dzokhar Tsarnaev’s case might have just been saved. Judy Clarke agreed to join his team of defenders to prevent him from the death penalty Wednesday. Clarke is known for representing insanely high-profile cases such as the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and Jared Loughner, the gunman who killed six people and wounded former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2011. Regardless the circumstances of Tsarnaev’s crime, this is the first time a person tried in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts faces the death penalty since the execution of gangsters Philip Bellino and Edward Gertson in 1947. Because of Clarke and her commendable reputation, Tsarnaev may spend the rest of his life behind bars, but not lose his life in the courtroom.
Clarke’s whole shtick, her specialization, is to takes big cases such as the Boston Marathon Bombing where capital punishment is on the table. She has an amazing track record of keeping defendants from ever going to trial and scoring them plea bargains. They are often sentenced for life, but in Clarke’s eyes, this is the correct result. She may have been drawn to this case because it is so rare prosecutors consider capital punishment in Massachusetts. Because he will appear in a federal court, officials can seek the death penalty.
The defense is gearing up heavily just over a week after prosecutors charged Tsarnaev. Even though the team of defenders has just acquired a strong ally, lawyers are even considering adding another lawyer to the mix. Part of the reason Clarke has taken the case could be to add to her international notoriety, but she seldom speaks to the press or actively seeks publicity.
But why are so many people trying to help Tsarnaev live?
Like any U.S. citizen put on trial, Tsarnaev deserves the best possible chance at a defense. There is so much rage against one person in this country that finding an unbiased jury could seem next to impossible, but given his situation, he does deserve his best shot. Having even what seems like the worst kind of criminal go through a fair trial also shows Americans how serious prosecutors and defenders are about upholding Constitutional provisions. There is no such thing as a truly fair trial when the defendant terrorized so many people. Clarke knows this, and based on the kinds of people she has “saved” from capital punishment, Tsarnaev might just sit in a cell and rot.
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