BOSTON -- Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev argued Wednesday that statements he made to authorities after he was arrested should be thrown out because he was questioned for 36 hours in a hospital room without being told his rights and while suffering from gunshot wounds.
The lawyers said in pretrial court filings that federal agents began questioning Tsarnaev about 20 hours after he arrived at the hospital in critical condition and his statements can't be considered voluntary.
Federal investigators questioned him shortly after last year's deadly bombing without formally telling him of his right to a lawyer, under a public safety exception allowed when there's concern about an ongoing threat.
But defence attorneys said the questioning continued "despite the fact that he quickly allayed concerns about any continuing threat to public safety, repeatedly asked for a lawyer, and begged to rest." They said his treatment included painkillers that impaired his judgment and increased his susceptibility to pressure.
Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to several federal charges. Prosecutors allege he and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two pressure cooker bombs near the marathon's finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died following a shootout with police several days after the bombing.
Also on Wednesday, the defence asked the judge to declare the federal death penalty unconstitutional, citing recent botched executions in Ohio and Oklahoma and arguing there's mounting evidence innocent people have been executed.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers said that the U.S. Constitution's protection against cruel and unusual punishment prohibits the application of the death penalty because it's not authorized under state law in Massachusetts. They cited "worldwide revulsion over the recurring spectacle of botched executions."
Federal prosecutors are expected to respond in their own filings.
