Considering the money spent on the prosecution of Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the federal government will have failed if he isn't given the death penalty, retired Judge Andrew Napolitano told Fox News.
"The defense offered to plead guilty to all these charges in return for life without parole about a half dozen times, and the government said no," Napolitano said Wednesday on
"Shepard Smith Reporting."
The government hasn't said how much the case cost to prosecute, he said, but estimates range between $3 million and $5 million.
"If this jury returns a verdict of life in prison, it will be a colossal and monumental defeat for the government," Napolitano said.
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jury on Wednesday found the 21-year-old Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 counts against him, including the deaths of four people in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013, and a campus police officer during the manhunt.
The jury now has to decide whether to recommend the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Tsarnaev's lawyer has admitted he took part in the terrorist act, but says he was the victim of his radical older brother, Tamerlan, who died during the manhunt.
Host Shepard Smith speculated that prosecutors might have sought the death penalty because it was the desire of some family members.
Also, Smith said, "The government may have wanted to send a message to anybody else who wanted to do this sort of thing. If you want to meet your maker, we can take care of that if you do this."