MOSCOW, March 4 (RAPSI) – Eighteen jurors have been chosen to participate in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial over Boston Marathon bombings, New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Jurors are to decide whether Tsarnaev is guilty of organizing the attack at Boston Marathon in 2013 and, if he would be convicted, they would have to decide whether he should receive a death penalty, New York Times reported.

Opening statements in Tsarnaev’s trial are set for 4th of March.

Only 12 jurors of 18-member panel will participate in еру deliberations while other 6 have been cast as alternates. The jury consists mostly of middle-aged people with middle-class jobs with eight men and ten women presiding, New York Times reported.

On the afternoon of April 15, 2013, two explosions occurred near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. IEDs devised from pressure cookers, low explosive powder, shrapnel, adhesive, and other materials were hidden in backpacks that were then placed near metal barricades in areas packed with hundreds of spectators.

Tsarnaev was arrested following a dramatic manhunt during which his brother and co-suspect Tamerlan was killed, as was MIT Police Officer Sean Collier. Tsarnaev was charged on April 21 with the use of a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death.

US prosecutors filed their notice of intent to pursue the death penalty against Tsarnaev on January 30, 2014. The government is seeking the death penalty for the accused.

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 criminal counts.