Updated

Eight more prospective jurors have been questioned in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv), and the judge says the case is getting closer to the start of testimony.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday if additional prospective jurors needed to be questioned or if enough had been qualified to move on to the next phase of jury selection. In that phase, lawyers on both sides are allowed to eliminate people for strategic reasons. Tsarnaev could face the death penalty if convicted in the April 2013 bombing.

One prospective juror said Wednesday that his steadfast opposition to the death penalty changed somewhat after the 2012 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. He said it happened within weeks of him becoming a father.