Will Tsarnaev Take the Stand?
BERMAN: This is now the third week of the Boston Marathon bombing trial. So far the jury has heard from 58 witnesses. The big question right now, will Dzhokhar Tsarnaev take the stand in his own defense? We're going to get to that question after we go through some of the key pieces of evidence in this case so far with Paul Callan, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, also a former prosecutor, and Joey Jackson, HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us.</s>JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure.</s>BERMAN: Paul, I think this trial started off with a notable really barrage, a parade of witnesses, people who suffered at these bombings, the graphic images, this carnage, these awful pictures of what happened here. What effect do you think that had?</s>PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's going to have an enormous effect. And this case has been moving very, very quickly, as we know. But when you talk about the death penalty, even people who are conscientiously opposed to the death penalty often have one exception. In a case that involves a family member, a friend, or carnage of this extent, and that's what prosecutors are showing here. This is a special case. It's a poster child for the death penalty. It's -- you know, Massachusetts is a liberal place. They generally oppose the death penalty up there, but prosecutors are making a very persuasive case here.</s>BERMAN: And I -- and I think these images are extraordinary, even for the people who were there at the time. Joey, we've been talking about key pieces of evidence here.</s>JACKSON: Sure.</s>BERMAN: And the boat keeps coming up. The boat and the message that he wrote inside the boat, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did. We're looking at a picture of those messages right now, bullet riddled, talking about the United States attacking civilians, essentially saying this was in defense of Islam. What's the effect here?</s>JACKSON: John, understand that this is compelling for the following reason. The whole defense is predicated upon the notion that he did not have a mind of his own. His brother put him up to everything. He led him. He radicalized him. He was in that boat, John, by himself. He had an opportunity by himself to give his views about what he felt about America, about what he felt about the actions that he engaged in with his brother in the bombing, in killing innocent civilians that, in his view, deserved it. And so I think what the prosecution is going to do is to align that with his tweets to make it clear that he acted, he acted knowingly, he acted intelligently and he acted on his own volition to kill and destroy</s>BERMAN: Here's -- here's one of these tweets right here. Listen to Anwar al-Awlaki. He, of course, was the -- was the al Qaeda terrorist in Yemen. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev says you will gain an unbelievable amount of knowledge if you listen to him. Paul Callan, if you're a juror, you see that.</s>CALLAN: Well, you know, once again, I mean the portrayal here through the use of the tweets is that this is a soldier in furtherance of an ideology that supports killing innocent American citizens. And he clearly understood what he was doing when he executed that ideology.</s>BERMAN: Let's talk about the demeanor right now because there's been all this new evidence that we did not see two years ago.</s>JACKSON: Right.</s>BERMAN: Surveillance in and around the bombing. I think the one that the most people are talking about is though is right here, this simple moment where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, after killing three people at the end of the Boston Marathon, maiming dozens of others, goes and buys milk. What effect does a video here -- what does a -- what does a jury think when they see that?</s>JACKSON: He did not care will be the prosecution's argument. He affected a nation, devastated a community, changed lives forever and took other lives. And what did he do after that? He went and he purchased milk. And then his brother said, you know what, we don't like this milk, let's take it back. And then certainly thereafter he goes for a workout and does other things that are just inconsistent with a person who really cares about anything.</s>BERMAN: Other side --</s>CALLAN: I think there -- there are two pieces of video. And I think, John, you're right on this one because it shows cold heartedness after this carnage. The other one is, when he's actually at the scene placing the bomb in a place where there are children --</s>JACKSON: Right.</s>CALLAN: Where there are women, where there are innocent people. And you really get a sense that he knew exactly who was going to be destroyed, utterly destroyed by this explosion.</s>BERMAN: And this is all prelude, of course, to this trial right now and the big question, if you are the defense, do you have your client, do you have Dzhokhar Tsarnaev take the stand? And it's a two-part question, right, because you could have him take the stand before the determination of guilt or innocence or you could have him take the stand after during the sentencing phase.</s>JACKSON: John, no way would he take the stand. You're talking about skilled attorneys who would rip him to shreds. If your ultimate argument is he had no mind of his own, didn't know what he was doing. Remember, the defense is not contesting guilt. They stood up during the opening statement and they said, our guy's guilty, but let me tell you why he's guilty. The defense will confront him with what we talked about, which is the evidence in that boat. The defense will confront him with running over his brother in addition to other police officers. The defense will confront him with "Inquire" magazine, and him reading it and reviewing it. Confront him with his tweets. He'll stand no chance. He doesn't get on the stand.</s>BERMAN: Paul, even in sentencing?</s>CALLAN: Unlikely that he takes the stand. I can't say 100 percent no only because this case is going so badly for the defense. They're crashing and burning. The one shot, the Hail Mary pass they might have, is putting him on the stand and making him sympathetic to the jury that he's the pawn of his brother. And you know something? I've never met him. You've never met him. Only the defense attorneys can know how he will project to a jury. Will he be human? And what would they have to lose by putting him on? They know what's going to happen if they continue to follow this road -- the death penalty.</s>BERMAN: Paul Callan, Joey Jackson, great to have you as always.</s>JACKSON: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: Thanks so much, guys. Michaela?</s>PEREIRA: All right, John, you know, most teachers don't get the recognition they deserve. We are going to speak with one teacher who just received the most incredible award, giving her 1 million reasons to smile. You have to hear her story.