Both sides rest after jury is told Boston Marathon bomber is 'sorry'

G. Jeffrey MacDonald | Special for USA TODAY

BOSTON — Both sides rested Monday in the penalty phase of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial, minutes after Sister Helen Prejean told jurors he is "genuinely sorry for what he did."

Prejean, the Catholic nun and anti-death penalty activist who became famous with the 1995 film version of her book Dead Man Walking, said she has met five times with Tsarnaev since early March. She said he told her how he felt about the suffering he caused to the bombing's victims.

"He said it emphatically," Prejean said. "He said no one deserves to suffer like they did."

She added, "I had every reason to think he was taking it in and he was genuinely sorry for what he did."

Jurors are expected to get the case on Wednesday to decide whether Tsarnaev will be executed or spend his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prejean said Tsarnaev "kind of lowered his eyes" when he spoke about the victims. His "face registered" what he was saying. She interpreted his remorseful sentiment "as absolutely sincere," she said.

Prejean said she talked with Tsarnaev about both their faiths, his Islam and her Catholicism.

"I talked about how in the Catholic Church we have become more and more opposed to the death penalty," she said.

Defense attorney Miriam Conrad asked Prejean what she heard in Tsarnaev's voice when he spoke about the victims' suffering.

"It had pain in it," she said.

Prejean, who has been a nun since 1957, said she started meeting with Tsarnaev in early March at the invitation of his lawyers. She had met with him as recently as a few days ago, she said.

Conrad asked her about her impressions of Tsarnaev when she first met him.

"I walked in the room, I looked at his face and said, 'Oh my God, he's so young!' " she said. Throughout its case, the defense team has emphasized Tsarnaev's youth and impressionability.

In the gallery, bombing victims shook their heads and looked around incredulously when Prejean said Tsarnaev was remorseful.

On cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb listed Prejean's credentials as an activist. She confirmed that she opposes the death penalty, makes speeches against it and campaigns to have the practice abolished.

After Prejean left the stand, the defense rested its case.

Tsarnaev's lawyers are trying to convince the jury that he should be sentenced to life in prison instead of the death penalty. The jury convicted Tsarnaev, 21, on April 8 of all 30 counts related to the attack that killed three people and injured more than 260.

During a morning break in testimony, bombing victim Karen Brassard, who had been listening in the galley, reflected on Prejean's words in light of what she'd seen since the trial began on March 4.

"Too little too late," said Brassard of Tsarnaev's purported remorse.

Brassard and her husband required surgery for shrapnel injuries after the bombing.

"I don't believe he's remorseful that people were injured," she said. "He hasn't shown one iota of respect for any of us. He has shown nothing but disdain for this whole process."