Marathon bombing: jury selection begins

Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man suspected of carrying out a bomb attack at the 2013 Boston Marathon that killed three people and wounded 260 others.

In the first, three-day phase of the trial in Boston, in the US state of Massachusetts, some 1,200 people will be called to the court to be considered as potential jurors. Altogether 12 jury members and six alternates will be selected to decide the fate of Tsarnaev, who, if convicted, could face the death penalty.

The jury selection is taking place under tight security.

Judge George O'Toole Jr. said the trial proper will begin on January 26, and is expected to last three to four months.

Prosecutors say the 21-year-old Dzhokhar and his brother, Tamerlan, both ethnic Chechens who had lived in the US for some ten years, carried out the bombings in retaliation for US actions in Muslim countries. Tamerlan, 26, died during a massive police manhunt after the attack.

Brother's influence?

Defense lawyers are expected to argue that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was influenced in his actions by his elder brother, who authorities believe adopted a radical mindset in the last years of his life that was reinforced during a trip to Dagestan and Chechnya in 2012.

Tsarnaev is also charged in the death of a police officer.

The Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013, was the deadliest terrorist act on US soil since the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington D.C.. The attackers used so-called "pressure cooker bombs" which they planted at the race's finish line.

All the victims were spectators and bystanders.

tj/dj (dpa, AP)