国际英语新闻:Boston Bombings Suspect Found 'Guilty'

During the penalty phase, which could begin as early as Monday, Tsarnaev's lawyers will present so-called mitigating evidence they hope will save his life.

That could include evidence about his family, his relationship with his brother, and his childhood in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and later in the volatile Dagestan region of Russia.

Tsarnaev's conviction was practically a foregone conclusion: His lawyers admitted he participated in the bombings.

But in a bid to save Tsarnaev from a death sentence, defense attorney Clarke argued that Tsarnaev, then 19, fell under the influence of his radicalized older brother. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died when he was shot by police and run over by his brother during a chaotic getaway attempt days after the bombing.

"If not for Tamerlan, it [the bombing] would not have happened," Clarke told the jury during closing arguments.

Prosecutors laid out evidence that the defendant, an ethnic Chechen who emigrated from Russia a decade before the attack, had read and listened to jihadist materials, and wrote a note in the boat where he was found hiding suggesting the bombing was an act of retribution for U.S. military campaigns in Muslim-dominated countries.

Jurors' questions

Earlier Wednesday, the jury asked U.S. District Judge George O'Toole to clarify two legal terms.

They asked about the term "conspiracy," which appears in several of the charges. O'Toole explained it applied to a plot between Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev that existed from February through April 19 of 2013, when the younger brother was caught.

Jurors also asked if "aiding and abetting," which also appears in several charges, were separate ideas. The judge said the terms represent a single concept.

Massachusetts has not executed anyone since 1947, and Roman Catholic bishops in the state reiterated their opposition to the death penalty on Monday, when the first phase of the trial wrapped up.