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Phase 2 of jury selection set to begin in Tsarnaev trial

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 file courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, left, is depicted beside U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr., right, as O'Toole addresses a pool of potential jurors in a jury assembly room at the federal courthouse, in Boston. Two highly anticipated criminal trials are underway almost simultaneously in Massachusetts: the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins, File) FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 file courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, left, is depicted beside U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr., right, as O'Toole addresses a pool of potential jurors in a jury assembly room at the federal courthouse, in Boston. Two highly anticipated criminal trials are underway almost simultaneously in Massachusetts: the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins, File)

By Associated Press January 15, 2015 1 min read

BOSTON (AP) – The second phase of jury selection is set to begin in the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv).

Beginning Thursday, Judge George O’Toole Jr. will individually question about 40 prospective jurors each day until enough people have been qualified to move to the final phase of jury selection.

Last week, more than 1,350 people filled out lengthy juror questionnaires. Many are expected to be excused based on their responses, but the court has not yet released that number.

The judge will do most of the questioning, with some follow-up allowed by Tsarnaev’s lawyers and prosecutors.

The 21-year-old Tsarnaev is accused of carrying out twin bombings near the finish line of the 2013 marathon. The blasts killed three people and injured more than 260.