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Boston Marathon Bomber's Lawyers to Argue for New Trial


FILE - In this courtroom sketch, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, third from right, is depicted with his lawyers and U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. at the federal courthouse in Boston Jan. 6, 2015.
FILE - In this courtroom sketch, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, third from right, is depicted with his lawyers and U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. at the federal courthouse in Boston Jan. 6, 2015.

Lawyers for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are due in court Tuesday to seek a new trial for their client.

Judge George O'Toole is scheduled to hear arguments in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts from Tsarnaev's attorneys, who argue a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year puts a series of his convictions in jeopardy.

The ruling focused on the legal meaning of a "crime of violence, a distinction that can carry stiffer penalties. The court struck down a part of the definition as unconstitutionally vague.

Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 federal charges and sentenced to death for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. He is being held at the federal Supermax prison in Colorado and is not expected to be in court for Tuesday's hearing.

The 22-year-old Chechen immigrant was convicted in connection with the planting of two pressure-cooker bombs that exploded near the finish line of the legendary race on April 15, 2013, killing three people and leaving 264 others injured, including 17 who suffered severed limbs.

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