Accused Marathon Bomber’s Legal Team Makes Request For A Month-Long Delay in Jury Selection Saying the Paris Terror Attack Could Sway Potential Jurors By Michele McPhee – Boston January 13, 2015 Defense attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said that terror attacks in France will lead to “extraordinary prejudice” against the accused marathon bomber at his upcoming trial and asked for jury selection to be suspended for a month, according to a court motion filed today. Tsarnaev’s lawyers said that the murders of 12 journalists at Charlie Hebdo in Paris followed by the murder of a French policewoman and the slayings of four people at a Jewish deli came the same week jury selection began for the accused Boston bomber. “Almost immediately after the attacks, the press, politicians, and commentators drew parallels between the French attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing. The supposed parallels included the fact that the suspects were brothers, that they reportedly were influenced by the lectures and writings of Anwar al-Awlaki, that they were “homegrown” terrorists, and that they attacked civilians in a Western city,’’ the motion reads. “These parallels so widely expressed cannot be lost on potential jurors.” US District Court Justice George O’Toole admonished potential jurors who sat in a jury hall with Tsarnaev last week to fill out sealed 28-page questionnaires last week not to read any media reports regarding the defendant, who could face the death penalty on a 30-count federal indictment charging him with murder. So far more than 120 potential jurors have been excused. Phase two of juror selection is slated to begin Thursday where potential jurors will be interviewed by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 23:34:48 +0000
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