Updated 3:15 p.m. Dec. 18, 2014, from Adam Reilly, who was at the courthouse:
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s final pretrial hearing at the Moakley Courthouse today was his first appearance in court since his arraignment in July 2013. It was brief, lasting just 25 minutes, and mostly uneventful — until a dramatic outburst by a Tsarnaev supporter as the hearing drew to a close.
Tsarnaev entered the courtroom just before 10 a.m., clad in a black sweater and grey pants. He looked frail, wore a bushy beard, and repeatedly touched his face.
Asked by Judge George O’Toole if he'd been kept abreast of his case since his 2013 arraignment, Tsarnaev replied, "Yes, sir." When the judge asked Tsarnaev if he’s satisfied with his legal representation, Tsarnaev answered: “Very much.”
Most of the hearing was devoted to administrative matters. Among other things, O’Toole expressed concern over possible leaks from members of law enforcement, but took no further action.
At the hearing’s close, as Tsarnaev was handcuffed, a woman shouted in Russian and then in English: “Stop killing innocent people! Don’t kill innocent boy, please!” She was ushered out by court personnel, and later identified herself as Elena Teyer, the mother-in-law of Ibrahim Todashev.
Todashev was a friend of Djokhar’s deceased brother Tamerlan, and was killed by an FBI agent last year in Florida in circumstances that remain murky. Speaking to the press outside the Moakley Courthouse, Teyer said she's sure her son was targeted by law enforcement — and that Djokhar Tsarnaev is being framed for a crime he didn't commit.
Jury selection in Tsarnaev's trial is slated to begin next month.
Original story by Phillip Martin:
Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is expected to appear in U.S. federal court in Boston Thursday for a pretrial status hearing just weeks ahead of the actual trial set to begin on January 5.
At the hearing, Tsarnaev’s lawyers will once again request a change of venue. They argue that finding an impartial jury in Boston will be near impossible given the publicity in this case. The last time Tsarnaev appeared in public was in July of last year with his two sisters in court that day looking on, the defendant pleaded not guilty to 30 criminal counts linked to the marathon bombing and the killing of a police officer. Now just weeks away from a major trial in which he faces the death penalty, Tsarnaev will be in court again. His lawyers will argue that his older brother Tamerlan had undue influence on "Jahar", but most significantly they will argue for his life.
Potential jurors have already received summonses and jury selection could take two to three weeks, according to the court. Prosecutors say as many as 100 witnesses may be called. FBI director James Comey says law enforcement is confident of the security arrangements for the trail.
"The U.S. Marshals service together with the FBI and others have a pretty good handle on how to protect both the places and the people who are near the places," Comey said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston says the only question of concern — as it’s prepares it’s case — is to show by virtue of the evidence and eyewitness testimony that the 21-year-old suspect willingly planted and detonated homemade pressure-cooker bombs. Hours after being outed by the FBI as the marathon mombing suspects.
The government will also argue that Tsarnaev and his brother shot and killed MIT police officer Sean Collier in cold blood. The gun allegedly used — a Ruger 9mm — was linked by authorities to Stephen Silva, a classmate of the younger Tsarnaev at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.
After more than a year in solitary confinement, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, will sit in a courtroom listening to his lawyers describe a young immigrant misled by his older brother. Defense attorneys will argue before 12 strangers that Tsarnaev’s is a life worth saving. The prosecution, in turn, will describe the lives taken and limbs blown off by a horrible act of violence. The trial is expected to last up to four months.
