Prosecutors: Keep Marathon Bombing Suspect's Trial In State
BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Thursday reiterated their opposition to moving the Boston Marathon bombing suspect's trial out of state and said in a court filing that jury selection should begin as planned on Monday.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers want a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's decision to keep the 21-year-old's trial in Boston. They argue Tsarnaev cannot receive a fair trial in the city's federal courthouse, which is just a few miles from where the bombing occurred.
Tsarnaev's lawyers filed the appeal Wednesday after a U.S. District Court judge denied their change-of-venue request as well as a motion seeking a nine-month delay.
Prosecutors said in their response filed Thursday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the district court correctly found that Tsarnaev had not demonstrated "the rare and extreme case" in which impartial jurors could not be found from a pool of millions of people.
Recent high-profile federal trials in Boston — such as that of former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger — suggest that an impartial jury could be found, prosecutors said.
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to federal charges connected to the April 2013 explosions at the marathon finish line, which killed three people and injured more than 260. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
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