Alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be tried in Boston, after a judge denied a request to have the trial relocated.
The defense had asked for that change of venue because they argued it would be impossible to find an impartial jury in the city where the bombings happened. (Video via ABC News)
But the judge for the Federal District Court of Massachusetts said given the high profile of the case, the odds of finding jury members who hadn't heard about the bombings were unlikely anywhere. (Video via CNN)
The judge did decide to move the trial back two months — from November to January. But that's not close to what the defense asked for; they requested a 10-month delay so they could analyze government documents about the trial more closely.
HARRY MANION, WBZ LEGAL ANALYST: "This defense team is playing for this defendant's life and they are going to do everything constitutionally warranted."
Even though it's only been moved back two months, other delays could be on the way.
JIM ARMSTRONG, WBZ-TV: "Attorney Manion did tell me he predicts jury selection in this case will take a very long time, we now know it begins January 5."
As The Boston Globe noted, that means the trial could still be taking place during the two-year anniversary of the bombings, which happened in April of 2013, killing five people and injuring more than 250 others.
That timing, combined with the fact victims and their families will be in attendance, means many are expecting a highly emotional trial.
VICTORIA WARREN, WHDH: "Mark Fucarile says he will be here every day of the trial."
MARK FUCARILE, VIA WHDH: "I'm just waiting for him to see us and have to face what he did. 'Cause he's a coward, 'cause he didn't face us that day."
Tsarnaev is suspected of planting the bombs during the Boston Marathon, along with his brother Tamerlan, who was killed during a police chase following the bombings.
