the city. and as a prerequisite, this jury had to say they did not have a constitutional objection, a personal objection to the use of the death penalty. it opens the door. and this is what the harvard law professor, who lived through this, said this is an unconstitutional way to collect a jury. this is not a jury of your peers, if in your peer group, there s a 60% opposition to the death penalty. in order to get on my jury, you must be in favor of it. in many ways, chris, the first phase of this trial, the guilt phase, is an open-and-shut part. tsarnaev as a 19-year-old. and the polling that you cited, i think lawrence is absolutely right about that the op-ed. but i also think the gambit of the defense was that the process of the trial phase would be cathartic, right? that there s a sense in which you go through the emotional
tsarnaev. some viewers may find this image offensive. the photo shows tsarnaev in a holding room three months after the bombing giving the middle finger to the camera in the courthouse jail. tsarnaev s defense team is arguing that mitigating circumstances should spare him from execution. only 19 years old at the time of the bombing, they argue he acted under the influence of his older brother tamerlan. complicating all of this are the views of the bombing survivors and victims families who have mixed views on what punishment tsarnaev should face. i want the death penalty. he saw so many people, he could have walked away. i do believe he should be held accountable. i believe the true judgment comes after he dies anyways. just days ago, the parents of martin richard, the 8-year-old boy, asked the government to take the death penalty off the table, saying that endless
appeals would only prolong their anguish and deprive them of closure. none of these arguments have made their way to the jurors however. they ve been ordered to avoid all media coverage of the case. jurors must reach a unanimous vote for the death penalty, or tsarnaev s life will be spared. joining me by phone is heather abbott, who lost a limb in the marathon attack. let s start with your feelings as we embark on perhaps the most emotional part of this trial. how are you feeling? hi alex. i m feeling pretty good. i m just anxious for the whole thing to be over with and put it in the past and be able to continue to look forward. is there an outcome here that would provide some sort of closure for you? no i really don t think there is. i don t think there s a satisfaction in any ending to