Latest on Boston trial: Defense says finger photo ‘immature’

Defense attorney Judy Clarke, center, arrives at federal court, Monday, April 27, 2015, in Boston, during the penalty phase of the federal trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured 260 people in April 2013. (AP Photo/Justin Saglio) Defense attorney Judy Clarke, center, arrives at federal court, Monday, April 27, 2015, in Boston, during the penalty phase of the federal trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted of the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured 260 people in April 2013. (AP Photo/Justin Saglio)

By Associated Press April 27, 2015 2 min read

11:50 a.m.

A lawyer for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) says a photo of him flipping his middle finger at a security camera in a jail cell was the work of an “immature 19-year-old.”

Attorney David Bruck addressed the photo Monday in his opening statement of the penalty phase of Tsarnaev’s federal trial.

The photo caused a sensation last week when prosecutors showed it to the jury that will decide whether Tsarnaev lives or dies. The images were taken three months after the April 2013 marathon bombings killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

Prosecutors told the jury the photo showed an “unconcerned, unrepentant and unchanged” Tsarnaev.