CNN interviewed terrorist attorneys Stephen Jones and Jenny Martinez Tuesday to discuss the case being made against Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Jones represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in 1995 and was executed for his crimes in 2001. Martinez, a human rights lawyer, has represented, among others, Jose Padilla, who is serving a 17-year sentence for conspiracy and supporting terrorism charges.
Jones flatly disagreed with the assertion that the case against Tsarnaev was a "slam dunk," despite a mountain of evidence against him, including a victim and eyewitness who saw him planting the bombs with his brother Tamerlan, a carjacking victim of the Tsarnaevs who told investigators they confessed to the bombing, and the firefights with law enforcement that left an MIT police officer dead.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) pointed out a first-year law student could prosecute this case. But no, Jones said, that idea was "arrogant nonsense."
"There are plenty of cases that started out with the public believing and politicians believing that the defendant was guilty, only to find that the defendant was acquitted, or the charges were dismissed or he was found guilty of a lesser included offense and not the main offense," Jones said. "So, with respect to Senator Graham, the defense can only hope that the prosecutors have the mind set that he distributed."
Martinez wasn't asked about the Obama administration specifically, but she went out of her way to praise its "balance" in dealing with Tsarnaev's case, saying it has done a "great job." Like ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, she has deep trust in the criminal justice system to prosecute Tsarnaev as an American citizen.