BOSTON, Mass. (NBC) – Attorneys for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked for a new trial today and to have his death sentence overturned.
Tsarnaev was not in court in Boston Thursday as his lawyers argued their client’s rights to a fair trial were violated.
They said it was impossible to get a fair jury in Boston due to the region being traumatized by the attack.
The defense also claimed that two jurors lied under oath about social media posts.
However, prosecutors believe an impartial jury was carefully selected for the trial and will present their arguments Thursday afternoon.
The judges will hand down a decision at a later date.
Tsarnaev was convicted of carrying out the deadly Boston Marathon bombing in April of 2013 that killed 3 people and injured 260 others.
He is currently on death row in Colorado.
His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted the explosions at the marathon finish line and was killed in a gun battle with police days later.
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