Jury
selection begins for trial of accused Boston bomber
Send a link to a friend
[January 06, 2015]
By Scott Malone
BOSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on
Monday began the process of selecting the jury that will hear the trial
of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, telling the first
of some 1,200 prospects to read no more news accounts about the deadly
blasts.Tsarnaev could get the death penalty if convicted of killing
three people and injuring more than 260 others by detonating a pair of
homemade bombs placed amid a crowd of thousands of spectators at the
race's finish line on April 15, 2013.
|
The 21-year-old ethnic Chechen and naturalized U.S. citizen has
pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges against him.
Tsarnaev, with bushy hair and a light beard, sat quietly between his
lawyers during Monday's proceedings, looking down and fidgeting. He
did not speak but nodded curtly at jurors when the judge pointed him
out.
U.S. District Judge George O'Toole acknowledged that people picked
to be among the 12 jurors and six alternates will be aware of the
bombing, but reminded prospective jurors that their job during the
trial, expected to last three to four months, would be to consider
only the evidence presented in court.
The judge told two groups of prospective jurors, each numbering
around 200 people, that Tsarnaev is charged in connection with the
marathon bombing and the fatal shooting of a police officer three
days later.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jan/06/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
"The mere fact that before this day you may have read or heard
something about this case does not automatically mean that you
cannot be a juror," O'Toole said, while telling prospective jurors
to avoid reading future news reports on the case.
"Do not, under any circumstances, do any online research about the
case," O'Toole said.
Similar sessions were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
O'Toole is allowing about three weeks for selection of the jury that
will determine both Tsarnaev's guilt and whether he would be
sentenced to death if convicted. The judge said opening statements
by prosecutors and defense lawyers would begin around Jan. 26.
Potential jurors were instructed to fill out questionnaires about
their backgrounds, which prosecutors and defense lawyers will review
to determine which candidates they want the judge to exclude. Jurors
were due back in groups of 20 beginning around Jan. 15 for in-person
questioning.
A moderate police presence was visible on Monday outside the
courthouse. Cruisers patrolled area roadways and officers with dogs
walked the perimeter of the courthouse building.
Defense attorneys had sought to have the proceedings moved out of
Boston. They argued it would be impossible to find an impartial
local jury because of intense news coverage and the fact that
thousands of people attended the race or hid in their homes during a
day-long lockdown in the greater Boston area after the bombing.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jan/06/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_091814.png)
But O'Toole and a federal appeals court blocked the request.
Tsarnaev was arrested four days after the bombing. Prosecutors say
he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his 26-year-old brother, also shot and
killed a university police officer. The brother died after a wild
gun battle with police.
The Tsarnaev brothers were Muslims whose family emigrated to the
United States about a decade before the attack. According to
prosecutors, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote messages inside of the hull of
the drydocked boat where he was discovered hiding four days after
the attack indicating political motivation.
The messages included "the U.S. government is killing our innocent
civilians" and "I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished,"
according to court papers.
Three people died in the bombing: restaurant manager Krystle
Campbell, 29; graduate student Lingzi Lu, 23; and Martin Richard, 8.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier,
27, was fatally shot three days later.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Will Dunham)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jan/06/images/ads/current/business_directory_filler.png)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jan/06/images/ads/current/napafarmsale_lda_010215.png) |