Marathon bombing suspect seeks dismissal

Associated Press

BOSTON

Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a judge Friday to dismiss indictments against the Boston Marathon bombing suspect and put on hold further proceedings in the case over concerns about the process of selecting jurors in federal court.

Tsarnaev’s attorneys said in a motion that a three-year review they conducted into the makeup of both grand juries and trial juries in the District of Massachusetts turned up “substantial violations” of both the federal jury selection law and a constitutional requirement that juries represent a fair cross section of the population.

Specifically, the lawyers cited an underrepresentation of African-Americans and people over 70 on juries.

Prosecutors say Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, set off the two bombs at the Boston Marathon’s finish line last year, killing three people and injuring more than 260.

Rules used in the Massachusetts district to select jurors allow people over 70 to opt out of jury service, the attorneys wrote, violating the fair cross-section requirement of the U.S. Constitution.