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1,000 people to be screened for Boston Marathon bombing jury

A federal judge said jury selection in the Boston Marathon bombing trial will begin Jan. 5 or Jan. 6.

By Frances Burns
As many as 1,000 people could be screened as possible jurors at the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a judge said Monday. UPI
As many as 1,000 people could be screened as possible jurors at the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a judge said Monday. UPI | License Photo

BOSTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- As many as 1,000 people could be screened as possible jurors at the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a judge said Monday.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. said jury selection has been scheduled to start Jan. 5 or Jan. 6. He told lawyers at a status conference that he expects 100 people from the jury pool to go on to individual questioning before a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates is selected.

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The judge said 1,000 juror questionnaires are being printed.

Tsarnaev was not at the status conference. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

On April 15, 2013, Tsarnaev, then a 19-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and his older brother, Tamerlan, allegedly set off two bombs near the Marathon finish line. Three people were killed and about 250 injured.

The brothers allegedly killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer a few days later. Tamerlan was killed in a confrontation with police, and his brother was found hours later hiding under a boat in a Watertown yard.

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