Judge Rejects Requested Delay in Tsarnaev Jury Selection
Despite the last-ditch efforts of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers to delay and relocate his trial, jury selection will begin as planned on Monday, Jan. 5.
Citing the volume of evidence and perceived difficulty in finding an unbiased jury in the greater Boston area, on Dec. 29 the defense filed a request to move and delay the trial. U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole Jr. rejected that request Dec. 31.
Hours later, however, the defense filed yet another request, asking to postpone jury selection while an appeals court decides whether to delay the trial and move it out-of-state. Prosecutors responded Thursday, arguing that such measures are unnecessary and that the case is ready to proceed to trial Jan. 5.
How the appeals court will handle that last-minute request is unclear, but on Friday, O’Toole rejected the defense’s motion to delay jury selection, noting that it would pose too great an inconvenience to the more than 1,200 people who have been called in for that purpose. Mere inconvenience aside, delaying jury selection for too long could necessitate a re-summonsing, which would delay the trial for months. The trial has already been pushed back from a November start.
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to the 30 charges he faces in connection to the April 2013 bombings that killed three and injured more than 260. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
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