Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Pleads 'Not Guilty'

The man accused of bombing the Boston Marathon was arraigned in federal court today on 30 charges including including charges of using weapons of mass destruction and murder. Seventeen of the charges carry a potential death penalty sentence.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, appeared before Judge Marianne B. Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston on Wednesday afternoon. 

Tsarnaev appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit that was unbuttoned, and a cast on his left arm. 

As the 30 charges against him were read, Tsarnaev's defense attorneys, Miriam Conrad and Judy Clarke, noted he would be pleading "Not Guilty" on all charges. 

Judge Bowler asked Tsarnaev to stand and enter his plea himself.

Standing at the microphone, in a slight accent, Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty seven times to all 30 charges as they were read in several groups. 

Tsarnaev appeared to fidget throughout the appearance, touching the left side of his chin, which appeared to be disfigured. 

Thirty victims or family members of victims were present in the courtroom, as well as some of Tsarnaev's family members, including his sisters. 

The prosecution said they would call to the stand as many as 80-100 witnesses, and the trial could take up to four months. 

Judge Bowler continued the hearing to Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. 

Wedensday's arraignment was Tsarnaev's first court appearance since his arrest on April 19, after a 24-hour-long standoff with police. After his arrest, he was held in a hospital to recuperate from wounds sustained during his capture and was later transported to a military prison in Fort Devens. 

Dzhokhar and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed during a confrontation with police in Watertown on April 19, are alleged to have created a pair of bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line April 15 killing three and wounding hundreds. Dzhokhar has also been charged in the death of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier. 

On Capitol Hill, the Boston Marathon bombings were also a point of discussion. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) spoke at a hearing that state and federal law enforcement agencies need to better communicate to find and defeat potential terrorist suspects and threats. Ayotte, a former state attorney general, sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

"The bottom line is that a local police officer is most likely to encounter that individual first, as opposed to an FBI agent, because you're on the ground, you're on the streets every day," Ayotte said, according to a statement from her office. "If you don't have that information and you encounter someone like [Tsarnaev] in advance, then you don't have the information...as to how to treat that individual and what to do with whatever actions they're making. If that information isn't flowing down fully to state and local in the way it needs to, then we do need to address that, and make sure we get to the bottom of it because...you're likely to encounter that person first."