USA - Massachusetts. Most Boston residents prefer life term over death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Most Boston residents prefer life term over death penalty in Marathon Case, WBUR poll shows. Despite this city's immersion in a trial that is replaying the horrific details of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the vast majority of Bostonians say in a new poll that if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the admitted bomber, is found guilty, he should be sent to prison for life and not condemned to death. Given the choice of sentencing Mr. Tsarnaev to death or to prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole, 62 % of Bostonians chose life in prison without the possibility of parole, while 27 % said he should be put to death, according to a poll released Monday by WBUR, Boston's NPR news station. Previous polls have shown Bostonians opposing the death penalty for Mr. Tsarnaev. A Boston Globe survey conducted in September 2013, 5 months after the bombings, found that 57 % favored life in prison while 33 % wanted him put to death. But the WBUR poll is the 1st to be conducted since Mr. Tsarnaev's lawyers admitted this month that he had participated in the crimes. And it was conducted in the midst of his trial, which has included survivors recounting the details of their limbs being blown off, and of loved ones being killed. The poll clearly shows that Boston voters have nonetheless not changed their minds about his potential punishment, pointing to the enduring depth of sentiment here against the death penalty. Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the survey for WBUR, said he initially expected support for the death penalty to intensify, given the grim testimony emanating from court. But, he said, the poll's results reflect the fundamental liberalism of the region and its longtime opposition to capital punishment. The WBUR poll found that opposition toward the death penalty was not as great in the Boston metropolitan region as it was in the city itself, but those in the metro area still preferred a sentence of life in prison over death: 49 % favored sending Mr. Tsarnaev to prison for life, while 38 % opted for death. The poll interviewed a total of 504 registered voters from March 16 to 18 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 % points.