DOJ to Seek Death Penalty Against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for Boston Marathon Bombings

The DOJ has just announced it will seek the death penalty against 20-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his alleged role in the Boston Marathon bombings. Here's the notice the government filed today in federal court.  U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz has also issued a statement regarding Attorney General Eric Holder's authorization of the death penalty. It reads:

Today, United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. authorized the government to seek the death penalty in the case of United States v. Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev. We support this decision and the trial team is prepared to move forward with the prosecution. A short time ago, the government filed with the Court the required notice of intent to seek the death penalty. The case will now continue to proceed through the pretrial process and the next scheduled court event is a status conference set for February 12, 2014. While I understand the public interest in this matter, we have rules that limit the release of information and the scope of public statements. The process by which this decision was made is confidential, and I will not comment further about that process other than to say that it entailed a careful and detailed consideration of the particular facts and circumstances of this case.

The indictment and complaint can be found here. For other details, see coverage from the Washington Post and NPR.