Accused Boston Marathon bomber pleads not guilty



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BOSTON -- When the public last saw accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, he was climbing out of a motorboat dry-docked in the backyard of a Watertown, Mass., home. He appeared in federal court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to 30 criminal counts, including one count of possessing a weapon of mass destruction.

He was covered in blood from bullet wounds sustained during a manhunt that brought greater Boston to a standstill. Tsarnaev was taken to hospital and he has been out of sight for the last 11 weeks.

Wednesday, the 19-year-old steps back into the public eye, when he enters a courtroom for his arraignment.

He will not only face 30 charges there, including the killing of four people, but also the families of those who died. One of them was a boy just 8 years old.

Some 260 people wounded in the Boston Marathon bomb attacks on April 15 have also been invited to attend. And hundreds are expected to.

Those who cannot fit into the courtroom will be allowed to watch the hearing from the overflow room.

Victims and their families tend to appear in person at trials at two key moments, said CNN legal analyst Paul Callan: at the arraignment, and at the verdict and sentencing.

"It's not something they want to watch on television. They want to be there," he said.

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