BOSTON (AP) - A judge has rejected a request from lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to hold a hearing on whether to move the trial outside of Massachusetts.
Judge George O’Toole Jr. said Thursday that he will decide the defense’s change of venue motion based on legal briefs already filed by Tsarnaev’s lawyers and federal prosecutors.
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty in the 2013 attack that killed three people and injured more than 260. He could face the death penalty.
Prosecutors allege that Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, detonated two pressure-cooker bombs near the marathon’s finish line. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a shootout with police several days after the bombings.
Tsarnaev’s trial is currently scheduled to begin in November. His attorneys have asked that it be delayed by at least 10 months.
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