BOSTON (
MyFoxBoston.com) -- Jury selection continued to roll on in the case of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Wednesday, and the U.S. Attorney tweeted late in the day that the trial is set to start on March 4 in Boston.
Eight people were interviewed during jury selection Wednesday. While a few people said they had not formed an opinion about whether Tsarnaev was guilty or not, others said they could not be so objective. One woman saying she believed he was guilty and cited a close friendship with a woman who was seriously injured in the bombings.
As of last Wednesday, the defense said 61 jurors had been provisionally qualified to sit on the jury. Judge George O'Toole has said he would like to qualify 70 people before moving on to the next stage of jury selection, peremptory challenges. In this stage, both the prosecution and defense will have the power to dismiss 23 jurors each, without giving a reason.
A court official expressed optimism that the process could be finished in the next few days, with opening statements starting as early as next week.
Once those 46 people have been dismissed, the pool will then be whittled down to 18, with 12 sitting in the jury box and six alternates.
