BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com)-- The defense said it would be difficult to find a jury because this crime has affected so many Bostonians, and that was evident during jury selection for the Marathon bombing suspect's trial Thursday.
Potential jurors told the court that if Dhzokhar Tsarnaev is convicted, they cannot, under any circumstance, condemn him to death, some saying that only "God can end a life."
The disturbing facts of the Boston Marathon attacks have not yet been revealed in open court. But already, jury section was too much for one woman in the courtroom. Juror number 40, a woman who owns a Boston education non profit, broke down as she told the judge that she didn't know the family of eight-year-old victim Martin Richard, but that she had met him at a park clean up in Dorchester.
The memory so clear, she had trouble speaking through her emotions, and she was sent home.
Another potential juror, number 38, told the judge that he is friends with one of the Boston police officers who first responded to the Marathon bombings and a photo of that friend, the juror said was on the cover of Time Magazine. He also told the judge that he is in favor of the death penalty if Tsarnaev is convicted, but could consider life without parole.
Tsarnaev mostly avoided eye contact and fidgeted in his seat as he listened to potential jurors. And most of them spoke in strong opposition to the death penalty Thursday.
Juror 54, a data management consultant, called the death penalty state sponsored vengeance. He said it is not a logical punishment for any crime.
Another juror, number, 57, a local bank employee, identified herself as a Christian woman. And said only "God can end a life."
The court is looking for a qualified jury that can impose a death sentence if Tsarnaev is convicted, and if federal prosecutors prove death is appropriate. This could take a while for the Tsarnaev case.
He is charged in the deadly 2013 attack that killed three people and injured more than 260.
