Judge not swayed by Tsarnaev lawyers' citing of Paris attacks

BOSTON -- A federal judge has rejected a bid by Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to suspend jury selection in his trial for at least a month because of the Paris terror attacks.

Tsarnaev's lawyers asked for the delay Tuesday, arguing that the Paris attacks last week placed the marathon bombings "at the center of a grim global drama."

Judge George O'Toole Jr. denied the motion Wednesday morning, saying that the juror questionnaires he's reviewed so far has confirmed his judgment that "a fair and impartial jury can and will be chosen."

Prospective jurors who made it through the first round of cuts in the trial face individual questioning Thursday. O'Toole will do most of the inquiry, but the judge has said Tsarnaev's lawyers and prosecutors will be allowed to ask some follow-up questions.

Tsarnaev's lawyers said Tuesday a delay would allow some time "for the extraordinary prejudice flowing from these events - and the comparison of those events to those at issue in this case - to diminish."

They said potential jurors have been instructed to avoid media reports about Tsarnaev's case, but were exposed to reports about the French attacks. Jury selection began last week in Boston. More than 1,350 prospective jurors have been called in to federal court to fill out lengthy juror questionnaires. The judge is scheduled to begin questioning individual jurors Thursday.

"Almost immediately after the attacks, the press, politicians, and commentators drew parallels between the French attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing," the lawyers wrote.

In the marathon case, authorities say Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planned and carried out the attack as retaliation for U.S. wars in Muslim countries. Three people were killed and more than 260 were wounded when twin bombs exploded at the finish line April 15, 2013.

Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police days after the bombings. Dzhokhar, 21, could face the death penalty if convicted.

In the Paris attacks, two gunmen, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi burst into the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people. A total of 17 people were shot dead in the three-day terrorist killing spree, including four hostages. The Kouachi brothers and a third gunman were killed by police.

While "Boston Strong" became the slogan used to show unity following the Marathon attacks, "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") has become a popular slogan since the Paris attacks.

The Paris attacks began Jan. 7, which was the third day of jury selection in Tsarnaev's trial in Boston.

Tsarnaev's lawyers have asked repeatedly to delay the trial and to move it outside Massachusetts, where almost everyone seems to know someone connected to the marathon or personally affected by the 2013 bombings. O'Toole has rejected the defense requests.

"Even before the Paris attacks, there was no modern precedent of which we are aware for attempting to seat an impartial jury in a community that had been so recently, so grievously, and so widely affected by a single series of crimes," the defense lawyers wrote Tuesday.

"Now, at the very moment this attempt is to be made, the Boston bombings are being newly placed at the center of a grim global drama. At a minimum, the court should pause long enough to let this latest storm subside," they wrote.

Among those called as potential jurors was a former news anchor for CBS Boston, Ted Wayman.

He was in court the day before the first Paris attack, and tells the station Tsarnaev "was quite indifferent. He couldn't care less (about) 200 people (in the courtroom), he didn't listen to the judge. Just sat there was indifferent to the whole process."

Wayman was asked how much he'd followed the case, if he knew anything about Tsarnaev -- questions he called respectful and insightful.

"I think a lot of people were sitting around, looking around. This is a big case, this is a historic case," he said.

The case is historic and feels very personal for Boston residents, leaving many to wonder how a local feels about staying impartial.

Could Wayman have impartially sat on the jury?

"Had I been picked, I would have tried my best," he said.