A judge denied Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev a trial delay and a request to move the trial out of state on Wednesday, paving the way for jury selection starting Monday.
U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. said an explanation for the denial was coming "shortly,"
The Los Angeles Times reported.
Tsarnaev's defense attorneys had previously argued that the widespread publicity of the bombings — which killed 3 — made an impartial trial in the jurisdiction where it took place an impossibility. They asked that it be moved to New York, Washington D.C., or the western part of Massachusetts at the very least.
"The nature and impact of the marathon bombings and related events, and the pretrial publicity engendered by those events, require a change of venue if Mr. Tsarnaev is to receive the fair trial by a panel of impartial, indifferent jurors guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution," they wrote to the appellate judge.
"[E]very member of the jury pool is, in effect, an actual victim of the charged offenses," they argued.
Along with the denial, Judge O'Toole issued a decorum order for the trial. Among other things the order prohibits courtroom spectators from wearing clothing or items "that carry any message or symbol addressing the issues related to this case that may be or become visible to the jury," which includes law enforcement uniforms and badges for off-duty officers and agents.
According to The Associated Press, Tsarnaev, 21, has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges against him. He could eventually face the death penalty if found guilty of a capital offense, which would require a second trial.
172 gigabytes of the trial's discovery material includes a sealed government witness list with 590 law enforcement officials and 142 civilians, as well as 1,238 potential court exhibits.
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