Jury selection begins for Boston Marathon bombing trial

[n2doc]

Source: AlJazeera America

Jury selection is set to begin on Monday in the trial of the man accused of carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others — the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 21-year-old ethnic Chechen who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, could get the death penalty if convicted in federal court in Boston. He has pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges against him.

Tsarnaev, due to be in court on Monday, is accused of detonating a pair of homemade bombs placed amid thousands of spectators at the race's finish line on April 15, 2013.

He was arrested four days after the bombing. Prosecutors say he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his 26-year-old brother, later shot and killed a university police officer. The brother died after a wild gun battle with police.

Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/5/tsarnaev-jury-selection.html

[benz380]

1. Do you think the death penalty should be applied if found guilty? n/t

[KittyWampus]

2. No, but I think if I were sitting on the Jury I'd be able to render a verdict knowing

the death penalty was an option.

It would take some compartmentalization, I guess.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. I don't understand why the courts didn't move this trial.

This case has had massive, massive media coverage in Boston. The lack of a change of venue looks like an appeal issue.

[branford]

4. Move it to where?

What jurisdiction in the USA hasn't heard about the case, and more importantly, what is the basis for the claim that a fair jury cannot be impaneled in MA? Over 3000 potential jurors have been called to serve. If a jury cannot be mostly selected from this pool, then a motion to change venue would certainly have greater merit.

The defense heavily relies on the OKC bombing trial that was moved to Denver. However, that case is really an outlier, where the majority of precedent dictates that the case should remain in MA.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. I imagine any place other than Boston.

Yeah, the bombing has generated significant national media coverage. But not like in Boston.

Pittsburgh sounds nice. Although I don't know if you have to have the trial in the same federal court jurisdiction. I think Pittsburgh is in a different one.

[branford]

7. A trial need not remain in the same federal district or appellate circuit with change in venue.

One of the biggest problems courts face when considering a change of venue is simple logistics. The vast majority of the relevant witnesses and victims and their families are in MA.

As I indicated earlier, the defense can renew their motion to change venue if circumstances change. Let's see how many potential jurors of the initial 3000 member pool are eliminated in the coming days.

[tammywammy]

5. Agreed, I also don't understand not moving the trial.

Even Timothy McVeigh's trial was moved.