A U.S. judge on Wednesday denied a request from the Boston bombings suspect to delay jury selection in his trial on the grounds that the Paris attacks could influence potential jurors.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's legal team filed the unusual motion at the U.S. district court in Boston more than a week after jury selection began. The court papers were published by U.S. media.

Potential jurors stared intently at Boston Marathon bombing defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as jury selection began under tight security Monday in one the America's most closely watched terror trials in recent years.

Tsarnaev, flanked by his attorneys, sat at a table at the front of the jury assembly room. Wearing a dark sweater and khaki pants, he looked down much of the time but occasionally glanced at the potential jurors and the judge. He also picked at his shaggy beard.

The long-awaited trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev began Monday with jury selection, 20 months after the shocking attack that killed three at the city's signature race.

Tsarnaev, a 21-year-old Muslim of Chechen origin, faces the death penalty if convicted in federal court for what was the worst act of terror on U.S. soil since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Former U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke, a liberal Republican who became the first black in U.S. history to win popular election to the Senate, died Saturday. He was 95.

Brooke died of natural causes at his Florida home, said Ralph Neas, Brooke's former chief counsel. Brooke was surrounded by his family.

Lawyers for Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Tuesday requested a further postponement to his highly anticipated terrorism trial, due to begin with jury selection on January 5.

Shaggy-haired, bearded and attentive, accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made his first public appearance in 17 months Thursday, at a brief court hearing before his trial next month.

Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is due to make his first public appearance in 17 months when he steps into court Thursday for final preparations for his January trial.

Held in Fort Devens prison hospital around 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the federal court in Boston where he will face trial, 21-year-old Tsarnaev, has not been seen in public since he pleaded not guilty in July 2013.

A U.S. jury on Tuesday returned a second conviction over the 2013 Boston Marathon attacks, finding a friend of the prime suspect guilty of lying to investigators.

Robel Phillipos, 21, was convicted on two counts of making false statements to authorities after the twin bombings, which killed three people, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors told Agence France-Presse.

The trial of alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will begin in January, a judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting a request from defense lawyers to move the hearing to another city.

Judge George O'Toole said Tsarnaev's trial, which had been due to open on November 3, will now begin on January 5.

Lawyers defending the prime suspect in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings have requested that his trial, due to start in November, be delayed until at least September next year.

Twin bombs planted at the marathon finish line killed three people and injured 264 on April 15, 2013, in an attack allegedly carried out by Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.