Boston Marathon Bombing Trial: Jury Selection Commences for Dzhokar Tsarnaev's Trial

The first step in the United States trial for the Boston Marathon bombing against the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was initiated on Monday by U.S. District Judge George O'Toole, Jr., Seattle Times reported.

The processcommenced with the selection of the jury for the highly controversial case, which involved the death of three innocent bystanders and injured more than 260 people on April 15, 2013.

The deadly blast was the result of a pair of homemade bombs detonated amidst the throng of spectators and participants during the marathon. Tsarnaev, the 21-year-old accused of the attack, pleaded not guilty to all 30 charges filed against him.    

O'Toole, Jr. instructed more than 1,200 prospective jurors to refrain from reading or discussing the tragic and gruesome incident prior to the release of the official list of selected candidates. The trial is estimated to go on for a minimum of three months, as the process alone of choosing the 12 jurors and six alternates from the pool of qualified candidates summoned by the Boston court is expected to take up several weeks.

In his statement to the prospective jurors, O'Toole explained that they will be tasked to deliberate the case of Tsarnaev. He imparted that the suspect has been charged in connection with the Boston marathon bombing and the death of a police officer in a shootout three days following the attack in 2013.

"The mere fact that before this day you may have read or heard something about this case does not automatically mean that you cannot be a juror," O'Toole elucidated to the group of potential members of the jury for the case.

"Do not, under any circumstances, do any online research about the case," the federal judge asserted.

The same sessions have been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The selection process was estimated  to take roughly three weeks to complete. The members of the jury to be chosen within this time frame would be tasked to determine whether the suspect is guilty of the crimes charges against him. Apart from the determining his guilt, the jurors must decided whether Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death if he gets convicted.  

The fatal blast that occurred near the marathon's finish line was identified as the biggest and most tragic attack hurled against the country since the infamous 9/11 strike. If proven guilty, Tsarnaev is expected to be handed stiff sanctions.