On April 15, 2013, as the Boston Marathoners approached the finish line, a huge explosion disrupted the race. Chaos ensued and twelve seconds later, a second explosion occurred a little more than 200 yards away. This bombing killed three people and injured more than 260 others. The suspected culprits are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan, radical Muslims that came to the US from Kyrgyzstan when they were 15 and 8 years old. The brothers initially escaped, but Tamerlan was eventually killed in a shootout with the police. Dzhokhar ran away but was later captured after being found hiding in a boat.
Tsarnaev faces 30 federal counts for his crimes. These charges include the bombing of a public place, malicious destruction of public property, carjacking, disruption of commerce and possession and use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death. He will be facing the death penalty. His defense team consists of Miriam Conrad, David Bruck, and Judy Clarke, a lawyer who has also defended Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. On the other hand, the prosecution includes Assistant U.S. Attorneys who have previously dealt with terrorism cases. The trial will be held at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston. As many as 590 law enforcement agents, 142 civilians, and 1,238 exhibits could be used as witnesses during the trial. The trial could last up to five months.
The trial will be held in the US Court of Appeals in Boston though the defense had been working hard to get the trial moved to another city. Their argument is that Tsarnaev can’t get a fair trial in the city where the bombings occurred. The court refuses to move the trial, saying that Boston is a large city with a diverse population and that they will be able to find twelve jurors and six alternates that won’t be biased. The trial itself is expected to begin in September 2015.