February 03, 2015
BOSTON - Jury selection for the trial of the accused Boston Marathon bomber could wrap up by the end of next week, despite stormy weather that has delayed the process, officials at U.S. District Court in Boston said on Tuesday.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, could face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing three people and injuring 264 with a pair of homemade bombs at the race's crowded finish line on April 15, 2013.
Some 1,350 potential jurors were summoned to Boston's federal court early last month to fill out questionnaires intended to determine whether they were eligible to sit on the jury. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole and attorneys in the case will resume in-person follow-up questions for candidates on Wednesday.
The court has been screening about 20 jurors a day, fewer than the 40-a-day goal O'Toole initially set.
A total of 18 people, 12 jurors and six alternates, are needed for the jury. To be eligible, jurors may not be too close to anyone injured in the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, must not have formed a fixed opinion as to Tsarnaev's guilt and need to be willing to consider voting for the death penalty if he is convicted.
The death penalty is an option in the case because Tsarnaev is being tried under federal law. Massachusetts has no capital punishment under state law and the death penalty is unpopular with many in the liberal-leaning state.
Jury selection was halted on Monday and Tuesday because of a snowstorm that dumped more than a foot of snow (30 cm) on the city, the second large snowfall in seven days. The process was also suspended two days last week because of a storm.
"Barring further weather delays, it is reasonable to think that the voir dire process may be completed by the end of next week," court officials said in an email.
The trial itself is expected to take three to four months.
Prosecutors contend that three days after the bombing, Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, fatally shot a university police officer as they prepared to flee the city. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died later that night following a gunbattle with police.
