"Boston Bombing Suspect Is Indicted on 30 Counts"

The title of this post is the headline of this New York Times report on the legal news emerging today from the federal courts in Massachusetts.  Here is how the article begins:

A federal grand jury in Boston issued a 30-count indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, on Thursday, charging him with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill three people and injure more than 200 others, according to the Justice Department.

The grand jury also charged him in the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, from whom he and his brother tried to steal a firearm, the authorities said, as they tried to elude the police after the F.B.I. released photos of them.

Mr. Tsarnaev faces life in prison or the death penalty on 17 of the charges, according to the Justice Department. He is scheduled to be arraigned on July 10.

The indictment provides the most detailed account from the authorities of the events leading up to and following the April 15 bombings. It says that Mr. Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a shootout with the police in Watertown, Mass., built the two explosive devices that they detonated at the finish line of the marathon using pressure cookers, explosive powder, shrapnel, adhesives and other items “designed to shred skin, shatter bone and cause extreme pain and suffering, as well as death.”

The authorities also provided a detailed account of how Mr. Tsarnaev killed his brother. The indictment says that after the brothers tried to “shoot, bomb and kill” the officers who were trying to apprehend them, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was tackled to the ground by three police officers. At that point, the indictment says, Mr. Tsarnaev drove the car that the brothers had been using “at the three police officers,” who were trying to drag his brother to safety. The car barely missed one of the officers but ran over Tamerlan, “seriously injuring him and contributing to his death.”

The US Justice Deprtment has issued this press release concerning the indictment, and the full 74-page indictment is available at this link.

Some recent prior posts:

• Spotting punishment and victims' rights issues after capture of Boston bombing suspect #2, Dzhokar Tsarnaev
• Does Boston bombing provide still more support for my federal-only death penalty perspective?
• "Balancing the State and Federal Roles in Boston Bomber Case"
• Bad news for hard-core death penalty fans: Judy Clarke joins defense team for Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
• "The Boston Bomber Should Face The Possibility Of The Death Penalty"
• How can/will Boston bombings victims reasonably "confer" with prosecutors and be "reasonably heard" in proceedings?