Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
The Boston Marathon bombing defence team argue that it should be moved to September Getty

The jury selection for the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who faces 30 federal charges related to the bombing of the Boston Marathon, begins on 5 January.

Tsarnaev, 21, faces the death penalty, if convicted of the raft of charges from federal prosecutors, which were first announced in 2013.

The charges include conspiracy to use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death.

Boston marathon bomb
Three people were killed and scores injured in the blasts Reuters

In April 2013 the defendant and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, allegedly detonated a bomb along the route of the Boston Marathon. Three people died and 250 were wounded. His brother was killed in a gunfight with police.

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to all 30 federal charges. The court will find 12 jury members from a pool of 1,200 eligible people and is expected to take several weeks to complete.

An attempt to have the trial moved from Boston failed.