or is it merely ‘more than possible’, as Kevin Cullen suggests, Fair trial is more than possible for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
The standard, especially in a death penalty case, should of course be better than ‘more than possible’. I agree with everything Kevin Cullen says in this piece, including the implication that it’s somewhat insulting that an impartial jury can’t be found in Boston. The criteria shouldn’t just be Boston, it should be intelligent people who can analyze and interpret information without emotional judgement. Yes, that is a smaller pool than the general population, so sorry if that offends anyone.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers make the case that “everyone in metropolitan Boston is, in effect, a victim of the Marathon bombings.” Hmmm…. neither I, anyone in my family or anyone I know personally was injured or worse in the marathon bombings. Am I disturbed by being about half a mile away, just having walked out of Fenway. Yes. Was it disturbing to watch the majority of the cops be called off Marathon crowd control to respond to a ‘major explosion’ and roll out (amazing quickly, I might add. Excellent work BPD), followed by watching cops from many municipalities west of the city start screaming into the area. Yes. Did I stay up all night the night of the chase, tv, laptop, ipad and phone going watching complete insanity unfold. Yes, I did. Am I disturbed that residents of a major American city went on ‘lockdown’ and people were advised to not leave their homes. Absolutely (though I 100% agree with decision to do so. Don’t mess with Boston! Thank you Deval Patrick, Tom Menino and all law enforcement). Was I shocked to watch a tank and law enforcement carrying major artillery march down the street of Watertown, MA, ten minutes from where I grew up. Yes, I was.

None of that makes ME a victim of the bombings. It makes me a human being.

So I’m sure I wouldn’t be considered for the jury, and I haven’t been called so it’s not an issue. However, I am intelligent and highly educated, therefore if Tsarneav’s attorney’s could produce one shred of evidence he didn’t do this, one shred, I would be happy to consider it. I would love to believe that this young person, who by most accounts of people who knew him when he was younger was a good (if pot dealing, hey there are worse things) kid, could not be so easily swayed to do these atrocious things.

In reality, it almost doesn’t matter where this case is tried. Once the photography of Tsarnaev standing behind Martin Richard, the eight year old who was killed, is shown or even the ATM video footage of him using their carjacking victim’s ATM card to take $800 (the least serious of the charges. See them all: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Tsarnaev_Indictment.pdf) are shown, this case is over. I base my opinions on such things as photographic evidence, which despite being reported in the media, are factual. That is what should be sought in a jury pool: people intelligent enough to make their own determinations, not form opinions based on alleged media manipulation. It’s insulting to think that there is no one in the Boston area who can do so.