Boston Marathon bombings trial: one key question
BOSTON -- Two dramatically different portraits of Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are expected to emerge when prosecutors and Tsarnaev's lawyers give their opening statements at his federal death penalty trial.
Was he a submissive, adoring younger brother who only followed directions given by his older, radicalized brother? Or was he a willing, active participant in the attacks?
The trial that begins Wednesday is expected to be one of the most closely watched terror cases in years.
Tsarnaev's lawyers have made it clear they will try to show that at the time of the bombings, Tsarnaev, then 19, looked up to his older brother, Tamerlan, 26, and was heavily influenced by him. They plan to portray Tamerlan as the mastermind of the attack. He died following a shootout with police days after the bombings. Tsarnaev was severly injured and later found hiding in boat. He's pleaded not guilty.
But prosecutors say Dzhokhar was an equal participant who acted of his own free will.
He faces 30 charges in the bombings and the fatal shooting days later of a police officer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Seventeen of the charges carry the possibility of the death penalty.
Three people were killed and more than 260 were hurt when twin bombs exploded near the finish line seconds apart on April 15, 2013.
Tsarnaev's trial will be held in U.S. District Court in Boston, under extremely tight security.
Tsarnaev's lawyers fought right up until the last minute to have the trial moved outside of Massachusetts, arguing that the emotional impact of the bombings ran too deep in the state and too many people had personal connections to the case. Their requests were rejected by Judge George O'Toole Jr. and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
A jury of 10 women and eight men was chosen Tuesday to hear the case. The trial will be split into two phases - one to decide guilt and the other to decide punishment. If Tsarnaev is convicted, the same jury would decide whether he's sentenced to life in prison or death.
Many potential jurors were excused when they said they had already formed an opinion on Tsarnaev's guilt or were morally opposed to the death penalty. Many others were dismissed because of personal connections to the bombings, including people who have friends or family who were near the finish line when the bombs went off or who knew first responders who treated victims.
Jury selection was delayed several times by the historic snowfalls in Boston, notes CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.
The trial is expected to last three to four months.
Tsarnaev has been held in isolation at a federal medical facility outside Boston since 2013, with limited access to the outside world, Quijano points out.
The list of witnesses remains sealed from public view, but among those expected to testify are first responders who treated the wounded, marathon spectators and victims who were badly injured in the explosions.
Marc Fucarile, who was standing just feet from the second bomb when it went off, tells CBS News, "Every time (the bombing) comes up, it brings back memories."
The explosion took off his right leg, burned much of his body and left a piece of shrapnel lodged near his heart. He spent 100 days in the hospital and has had dozens of surgeries to repair the damage.
Still, he says he'll attend the trial.
"This is where it happened," Fucarile says. "This is where it should be taken to trial. ... Being on the ground with no leg and bleeding out and burning and on fire -- to see myself at that point and to see where I am now, you know -- I want to witness it. To see. I want to see it."
At the start of jury selection, in January, bombing victim Heather Abbott, who lost a leg, told CBS News she plans to attend court whenever she can.
"I am certain that it will bring up, obviously, a lot of what happened two years ago," she conceded. "(I'm sure it will bring up) a lot of emotions."
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb will lay out the prosecution's case in opening statements.
Attorney Judy Clarke, a well-known death penalty opponent, will deliver the opening statement for the defense. Clarke has saved a string of high-profile clients from the death penalty, including: Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph; Unabomber Ted Kaczynski; and Jared Loughner, the man who killed six people and wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a 2011 shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona.
Legal experts say Tsarnaev's lawyers have their work cut out for them.
"It's not a question of whether he will be proven guilty or found not guilty -- they are looking to avoid the death penalty," observes CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleiman.
The evidence against him includes surveillance video that allegedly puts him at the scene, eyewitnesses, and forensic evidence, including the two pressure cookers used in the attack, Quijano says.