BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) --Convicted marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death Friday, and our Crystal Haynes spoke to US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and the lead prosecutor in the trial after the jury returned their decision.
Ortiz said she was relieved when the verdict came down.
"I just felt great relief and I was very satisfied with the verdict was rendered today," Ortiz said.
Lead Prosecutor William Weinreb said, "All along we had been confident that the jury would make the right decision."
That jury sat through volumes of heart-wrenching testimony and often gruesome evidence. Our Crystal Haynes asked if the team every thought they could push the jurors too far.
"You never want to have to expose jurors to painful images and video sometimes it's necessary in order for the jurors to have the information they need to render a verdict in the case," Weinreb said.
A verdict that some critics say could make this 19-year old convicted terrorist a martyr for extremist Muslims.
"People who have been convicted of terrorism offenses or convicted after a fair and impartial trial and given whatever punishment they receive, it does not turn them into martyrs," he said.
A recent poll had shown that only about 20 percent of the people in Massachusetts were in favor of the death penalty in this case, but the prosecution team says they were confident that they could get this verdict.
"We believe and have always believed that a fair and impartial jury could be found in Massachusetts," Weinreb told FOX25.
But survivors like the Richard family had asked the prosecution to take the death penalty off the table. On Friday night, Ortiz says she's still confident in her decision to go forward with it.
"You take all those feelings, positions into account. At the end of the day we proceeded in a manner that was required by law and was authorized by the Department of Justice," Ortiz said.
