Three Things for March 4
1. Supreme Court reimposes Boston Marathon bomber’s sentence
On Friday, March 4, the Supreme Court reinstated the death sentence for the Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
“The justices, by a 6-3 vote Friday, agreed with the Biden administration’s arguments that a federal appeals court was wrong to throw out the sentence of death a jury imposed on Tsarnaev for his role in the bombing that killed three people near the finish line of the marathon in 2013,” reports AP News.
The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled “the trial judge improperly excluded evidence that could have shown Tsarnaev was deeply influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan, and was somehow less responsible for the carnage,” according to AP News.
The court faulted the judge for not adequately questioning jurors on their exposure to “extensive news coverage.”
2. Former officer cleared in shooting during Breonna Taylor raid
Former Louisville Police Officer Brett Hankison, center, awaits the jury's verdict in his wanton endangerment trial, Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
On Thursday, March 3, former Kentucky police officer Brett Hankison was found not guilty on charges stipulating he endangered neighbors the night he fired into Breonna Taylor’s apartment.
“The panel of eight men and four women delivered its verdict for about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys,” reports AP News.
None of the officers involved in the March 13, 2020, raid were charged with Taylor’s death.
“His acquittal likely closes the door on the possibility of state criminal charges against any of the officers involved in the raid. A federal investigation into whether the officers violated his civil rights is underway,” reports AP News.
For more information, read the full AP News article.
3. Russia seizes nuclear plant
On Friday, March 4, Russian troops set the biggest nuclear plant in Europe on fire in an attack.
The UN and Ukrainian officials said firefighters put the fire out and no radiation was released.
According to AP News, “In the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, the chief of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian ‘projectile’ hit a training center, not any of its six reactors.”
The attack reminded Ukraine of the world’s worst nuclear disaster — Chernobyl in 1986.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he feared an explosion would be “the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.”
For live updates on the Russia-Ukrainian war, check AP News.
