Opening Statements Next Week In Marathon Bombing Trial
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has qualified enough prospective jurors in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to move on to the final stage of jury selection and opening statements next week.
A court official says the process of identifying a sufficient number of qualified jurors was completed Wednesday. Next week, prosecutors and Tsarnaev's lawyers will be allowed to eliminate 23 jurors each for strategic reasons. A final panel of 12 jurors and six alternates will then be seated for the trial.
Opening statements from both sides are expected on March 4. Testimony will begin immediately after opening statements.
Tsarnaev is charged in the 2013 attack that killed three people and injured more than 260. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
Jury selection began Jan. 5.
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