Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should rot in solitary confinement for the rest of his natural life because the death penalty handed down by jurors on Friday puts the convicted Boston Marathon bomber out of his misery too quickly and easily, says Boston criminal defense lawyer Geoffrey Nathan.
"I have to say I agree with the sentiment that death is too good for this terrorist," Nathan told "Newsmax Now" hosts John Bachman and Miranda Khan on
Newsmax TV on Monday.
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"He's young enough that having him serve sentences and solitary confinement for the rest of his life … is the just punishment for him," said Nathan.
Nathan described a vision of solitary for the 21-year-old Tsarnaev at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, or ADX, in Florence, Colorado — "a clean version of hell," in the words of a former ADX warden.
"Completely shut out from the outside world," said Nathan. "Living in a cell with nothing but the mirror he seems so fond of, and nothing except a small toilet and small amounts of running water. And being served terrible food three times a day, the minimum calorie count allowed by federal law."
"To put him to death, which may not ever happen, which has only happened three times since the [federal] death penalty was reinstated in the United States — it's probably not going to happen, anyway," he said.
"Let him rot in the cell, for crying out loud, and he can think about himself for the rest of his life," said Nathan.
After convicting Tsarnaev in April on all counts in the 2013 bombing, which killed three and maimed and injured scores near the finish line of a beloved annual event, jurors last week imposed the death penalty — and triggered what is likely to be a lengthy appeals process.
Nathan said the jury decision could be overturned either by the judge in the case or a federal appeals panel. But he predicted that the judge will honor the jury's request, and he said that the outcome is being accepted by Bostonians even in the absence of a death penalty at the state level in Massachusetts.
"From my unofficial account, I can just tell you in the general community there's a sense of relief in that the justice was done in regards to this matter, that he had a fair trial," said Nathan. "He may not have had a perfect trial, but it was executed by the judge very well.
"And when he announces the sentence, it'll be the death penalty, and this town will move forward from here."
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