Up to 1,000 potential jurors may be questioned for Boston bombing trial
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a photo released by the FBI on April 19, 2013.
As many as 1,000 potential jurors may be called to fill out questionnaires that will eventually lead to the selection of a panel that will decide the fate of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, officials said Monday.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. told lawyers about the juror plan during a status hearing on the case Monday. It is expected that the questionnaires will be used to create a pool of about 100 people from which 12 jurors and six alternates will be selected, according to a person familiar with the hearing’s proceedings.
Usual practice is for potential jurors to be called in pools of about 250 people at a time to fill out the questionnaires.
By comparison, questionnaires were prepared for 700 to 750 potential jurors in the June 2013 federal trial of former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
Bulger, 85, was charged with 32 counts including racketeering, money laundering and extortion, and was accused pf playing a role in 19 murders. He was convicted on 31 counts, including charges that linked him to 11 murders. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.
Tsarnaev, who was 19 at the time of the bombings and is now 21, did not attend Monday’s proceedings, nor is he expected to attend the next status conference, scheduled for Nov. 12.
He is likely to attend the court session set for Dec. 18, the last one scheduled before the trial is set to begin with jury selection on Jan. 5.
Tsarnaev is charged with carrying out the bombing near the finish line of the marathon on April 15, 2013. Three people died and more than 260 were injured in the attack.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy and using weapons of mass destruction. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty in the case.
The government maintains that Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, used bombs made out of pressure cookers.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police.
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