The man sentenced to death for the 2013 Boston bombings has begun an appeal against his convictions and sentence.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted earlier this year of carrying out the bombings which killed three people and injured over 260 others.
A jury sentenced him to death for the charges relating to the bomb he had deposited, and he was given life sentences for most of the other charges.
At the official sentence hearing at the end of last month, Tsarnaev spoke in court for the first time saying: "I am guilty. I did do it”.
He also apologised for what he had done, saying "I am sorry for the lives that I've taken, for the suffering that I've caused you, for damage that I've done. Irreparable damage".
His lawyers have today filed the first legal papers required for him to begin an appeal.
The documents show that he is appealing against the convictions and the death sentences and is looking for a new trial claiming insufficient evidence and the pursuit of justice.
His lawyers write that "a new trial is required in the interests of justice and judgments notwithstanding the verdict are required as a matter of evidentiary insufficiency".
The filing is described as a "placeholder" as notification of a convict's intention to appeal and seek a new trial has to be completed within a certain time frame.
His lawyers say they will file a more thorough appeal claim by 17 August, which will include "all supporting material, including specific and detailed citations to the record and appropriate legal authority".
