03:24 26.02.2015(updated 03:58 26.02.2015)
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The start of the trial against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is scheduled for March 4, the Massachusetts Attorney's Office has announced.
"Tsarnaev trial to start on Wednesday, March 4th in Boston," US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said on its official Twitter page Wednesday evening.
Earlier this week, a US District Court official for the District of Massachusetts told Sputnik that the jury selection for the trial will likely finish this week.
The court will also hear pending motions that need to be resolved before it commences with evidence presentations ahead of next week's opening trial statements, the official said.
Jury selection for the Tsarnaev trial began on January 5, but it has been slow due to repeated weather delays and to ensure that impartial jurors are selected. Tsarnaev's defense lawyers have sought to change the location of the trial away from the Boston area, arguing the pool of potential jurors would be biased by media coverage and the impact the bombing had on the community. The court denied the defense's motion.Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Dzhokhar, who faces 30 charges, half of which carry the death penalty. In his first public court appearance in July, 2013, he pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
US District Judge George O'Toole, who is overseeing the trial, said at the beginning of jury selection that should Tsarnaev be convicted, the jury will decide on whether or not to impose the death penalty.
The Boston Marathon bombings, which took place on April 15, 2013, killed three people and injured more than 260. US law enforcement identified Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan as suspects. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police four days after the terrorist attack.