Attorney Judy Clarke
BOSTON — Prominent death penalty lawyer Judy Clarke is joining the team representing the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.
Judy Clarke, originally from Asheville, NC, is known for working out plea deals in high-profile cases, will be taking on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s case.
Ms. Clarke, who attended the University of South Carolina and Furman University in South Carolina, has defended such people as Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and Jared Lee Loughner, the man who is accused of shooting Gabby Giffords.
Most notoriously, at least for those of us living in the Charlotte, NC/Union, SC area, Judy Clarke defended Susan Smith. Susan Smith, you’ll remember, is the woman who rolled her car into the lake with her babies, aged 3 and 1, still strapped in their car seats inside. Judy Clarke was able to get the hated Susan Smith spared from the death penalty. Smith will be eligible for parole in 2024 after serving 30 years.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction during the April 15 marathon. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line. His brother was killed in a shoot-out with police that left an officer dead.
Tsarnaev was subsequently apprehended after another shoot-out in the back yard of a quiet Boston suburb after a homeowner spotted blood on the side of his boat. The boat was the hiding place for the younger Tsarnaev.
After being treated in a Boston area hospital for a gunshot wound to the neck, Tsarnaev has been moved a federal medical detention center about 40 miles outside the city.
