The Boston Marathon bombings case promises to be a high-profile spectacle. Every move prosecuting and defense attorneys make will be subject to searing media analysis and second-guessing. The death penalty could be on the table.
To all that add another complication: the federal budgetary sequestration. Lawyers with the federal public defender office in Boston representing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old charged in the fatal attacks, are bracing for three weeks of furloughs. The U.S. attorney’s office in Boston, on the other hand, is expected to operate at full strength following an announcement last week from Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. that the U.S. Department of Justice would avoid furloughs, at least for now.
