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First Posted: 7/15/2013

(AP) The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing is asking to have a second prominent death penalty expert added to his defense team.


In April, chief federal public defender Miriam Conrad asked a judge to appoint Judy Clarke and David Bruck to help defend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv).


The judge approved Clarke, a San Diego lawyer and death penalty opponent, but denied the request for Bruck, a professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia.


Now that Tsarnaev has been indicted on 30 counts, many of which could bring the death penalty, his attorneys are again asking to add Bruck to the team.


They say he’s especially well-qualified because of his extensive experience with death penalty cases.


Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to all of the charges last week.


Associated Press