AKIPRESS.COM - Lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made their third push to move the trial out of Massachusetts Thursday, citing data from court questionnaires that shows 68 percent of the 1,337 Boston-area residents called as prospective jurors in the case already believe their client is guilty, the Boston media report Thursday.

In a court filing Thursday, Tsarnaev’s attorneys said roughly the same amount of potential jurors — 69 percent — have a “self-identified connection” to the April 2013 bombings, meaning they were personally affected or knew someone who was.

“Stronger support for a finding of presumed prejudice in Boston is difficult to imagine,” Timothy Watkins, one of Tsarnaev’s attorneys wrote in the filing. “The existing record precludes a fair trial in Boston.”

Based on an analysis of juror questionnaires, the defense noted that just 345 prospective jurors — or 25 percent of those summoned in the case — said they were “unsure” when asked if they had “formed an opinion” that Tsarnaev is guilty, while 66 potential jurors said “no.”

The motion came just hours after court officials announced that opening arguments in the closely watched trial would be delayed. U.S. District Court Judge George O’Toole, who is presiding over the case, said earlier this month that the trial would begin next Monday. But jury selection has moved at an achingly slow pace in recent days, fueling rumors that the court would have no choice but to delay the proceedings.

Tsarnaev, 21, is accused of plotting and carrying out the twin bombings along with his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a confrontation with police four days after the attacks. Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty in the attacks, which killed three people. He is also charged with killing an MIT police officer while the brothers were on the run from authorities.

Individual questioning of potential jurors, known as voir dire, began last Thursday, and the court had suggested an interview pace of roughly 40 people a day over the last week — but as of Wednesday, the court had talked to just 61 people, with another 11 scheduled for Thursday.

The court is trying to gather a pool of 70 “qualified” jurors — people who not only have not formed an opinion about the case but also would be willing to impose the death penalty. From there, the list would be whittled down by prosecutors and Tsarnaev’s attorneys to a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates.