Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Appeals Court Rules No Delay For Boston Marathon Bombing Trial

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Handout
/
Getty Images
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The trial of Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will go ahead as scheduled, beginning on Monday after a federal appeals court rejected a motion to delay it.

In a 2-to-1 ruling, the 1 st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the defense had not met the "extraordinary" standard that would be required to delay the trial.

"The judges in the majority are satisfied that full consideration has been given to the issues raised by the petition, and it is clear that the petition falls short of meeting the requirements for issuing the extraordinary writ of mandamus," two judges said in the majority opinion. One judge dissented, saying he didn't have enough time to carefully consider the petition filed Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

The AP reports that one of Tsarnaev's attorneys, Miriam Conrad, declined to comment Saturday.

Tsarnaev faces 30 counts connected to the April 2013 explosions that killed three people and wounded 260 others near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon run.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.