The long-awaited trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has begun with jury selection, 20 months after the devastating attack that killed three at the city's signature race.
Tsarnaev, a 21-year-old Muslim of Chechen origin, faces the death penalty if convicted in federal court for what was the worst act of terror on US soil since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Dressed in a dark pullover and light pants and with a shock of tangled hair and small beard, Tsarnaev appeared opposite a first group of 200 to 250 potential jurors as US District Judge George O'Toole on Monday briefly reviewed the charges against him.
Tsarnaev - flanked by his defence team - has pleaded not guilty to the 30 charges, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction leading to death, and carrying out an attack in a public place.
With his older brother Tamerlan, Tsarnaev is alleged to have set the bombs, which exploded 12 seconds apart on April 15, 2013, ripping through crowds gathered near the finish line as the race was ending.
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More than 260 people were wounded. Several people lost limbs when the pressure-cooker bombs - packed with nails and other shrapnel - exploded.
Tamerlan was killed in a confrontation with police days after the attacks.
After a manhunt that included thousands of police, Tsarnaev was arrested a few hours after the death of his brother. He was seriously injured and found hiding in a boat in a Boston suburb.
A 12-member jury, with six alternates, will be selected from a pool of about 1200. Each potential juror must fill out a questionnaire; those answers will eventually be used by lawyers for juror elimination.
Only one survivor of the attack was seen in court on Monday, but more are expected to attend once the proceedings begin in earnest.
If Tsarnaev is found guilty, the jury must unanimously decide between capital punishment and life imprisonment.
Defence lawyers had tried in vain to have the trial moved to another city, arguing it would be impossible to assemble an impartial jury in Boston.
O'Toole said opening arguments would begin on January 26, and the trial was expected to last three to four months.
Tsarnaev's defence team includes Judy Clarke, an expert in death penalty cases who has helped spare her clients from capital punishment numerous times.
According to the indictment, the government believes the Tsarnaev brothers acted alone. The government portrays them as radicalised lone wolves, who learned how to make bombs from an al-Qaeda publication online.
