BOSTON (AP) – Publicity hasn’t jeopardized Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s right to an impartial jury, a federal appeals panel says, and jury selection and opening statements can proceed next week as scheduled in the city where the deadly explosions occurred almost two years ago.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said in a 2-1 ruling Friday that U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. correctly denied Tsarnaev’s requests on three occasions to move the trial and that the judge acted within his discretion, especially given the “particularly unusual” timing with jury selection already underway.
“The process has been thorough and appropriately calibrated to expose bias, ignorance and prevarication,” the majority said of the judge’s almost daily sessions with potential jurors that began nearly two months ago.
Chief Judge Sandra Lynch and Judge Jeffrey Howard said that the ongoing jury selection process did not suggest pervasive prejudice and that it was not clear and indisputable that pretrial publicity required a change of venue. Furthermore, they said, the defense did not demonstrate irreparable harm if the trial remained in Boston.
“Any high-profile case will receive significant media attention,” the majority opinion said. “Knowledge, however, does not equate to disqualifying prejudice. Distinguishing between the two is at the heart of the jury selection process.”