BOSTON (
MyFoxBoston.com) -- A sick juror canceled court for the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, meaning that Tsarnaev's family members, who came to Boston from Russia last week and were supposed to testify Thursday, will need to stay in the state through the weekend.
There is no trial on Fridays; the earliest the family could testify is Monday morning
They have already spent a week in Boston, waiting to be called to testify for the defense during the penalty phase of the trial.
In court filings this week, a prosecutor complained about how long the Tsarnaev family is staying.
"It's an enormous expense and distraction for the agency, and that's just part of the expense that the government has endured," prosecutor William Weinreb told the judge this past Monday.
Now that stay, and that expense, is extended.
The Tsarnaev family is here under a Homeland Security program called Advance Parole, which is set up to allow people without visas to come to the United States and stay here, but only for a short period of time.
During the stay, 16 FBI agents watch the family around the clock, and they will likely be monitored by GPS devices on their ankles.
"Theyre' being watched so closely because the nature of the case because they are not here on visas, they are not US citizens, because they are family members of somebody who has been convicted of domestic terrorism," said former federal prosecutor and defense attorney Brad Bailey. "All of these are real concerns."
Earlier in the week, former US Attorney Michael Sullivan told FOX25 this trip could easily hit $100,000. Now, with the family here for another four days at least, that figure could increase significantly.
