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Testimony in Tsarnaev trial focuses on brother of defendant

On Tuesday, the second day of defense testimony in the penalty phase of the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tsarnaev’s attorneys focused on personality changes in the defendant’s deceased brother, Tamerlan.

Witnesses for the defense team of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev testified about his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tuesday at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse. PHOTO FROM DAVISCOUNTYUTAH.GOV
Witnesses for the defense team of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev testified about his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tuesday at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse. PHOTO FROM DAVISCOUNTYUTAH.GOV

The defense has claimed Tamerlan coerced Dzhokhar into committing the 30 counts for which he was convicted, including placing two bombs at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring more than 260.

Witnesses testified about Tamerlan’s hobbies and boxing career.

Rogerio Franca, a friend of Tamerlan’s, spoke about their friendship with the help of an interpreter.

Franca said he had only seen the defendant once or twice prior to the 2013 Boston bombing.

Franca and Tamerlan had lost touch, but the two ran into each other on Boylston Street in 2012. Franca said Tamerlan looked different as he was dressed in all white.

Tamerlan asked, “You are not Muslim yet?” To which Franca answered, “No.” He said that this was unlike Tamerlan as they had never spoken about religion.

Digital forensic specialist Mark Spencer was called to the stand after having previously testified in the first phase of the trial. Spencer spoke of the Samsung and Sony computers that were previously identified as belonging to Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, respectively.

Spencer created charts that showed the majority of the files on the compact disks recovered from both the Honda and Mercedes the brothers drove were originally housed on Tamerlan’s computer.

Spencer also recovered evidence regarding the Internet search histories on each computer. Some search phrases included “If your husband becomes a Shahid, what are the rewards for you?” and “Rewards for wife of mujahideen [militant Islamic groups].”

The charts also showed the search phrase “photos of Boston Bombing suspects CNN.com.”

In addition to recovering information regarding Internet searches, Spencer was able to recreate what the desktop on the laptop looked like. “Sticky notes” on the desktop read, “We all belong to Allah and to Him is our return. Join the campaign, whether it’s easy or burdensome,” and “If you help Allah, so he will help you.”

The jury was shown photos of Tamerlan in what appeared to be traditional Muslim clothing, holding a flag and a handgun, and a young child holding a rifle.

After a brief midmorning break, the defense called Tamerlan’s boxing coaches, the first of which was also a family friend, to the stand.

John Curran, the first of the two boxing coaches, spoke about Tamerlan’s skills and charm.

“My first memory is that he was kind of charming. He certainly was eager to participate. And my problem with him was that he didn’t listen to the coaching instructions,” he said.

Tamerlan became discouraged when he could not compete in the Golden Gloves boxing competition in 2010 because he was not a U.S. Citizen.

“He was under the assumption that I somehow could bypass the rules,” Curran said.

The defendant scratched his head and fidgeted when the defense showed the court a photo of Tamerlan and their father.

Curran identified the defendant as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, but said he had only seen him once or twice when he was a young boy. He was dismissed after a cross-examination by prosecuting attorney Steven Mellin.

Boxing coach Kendrick Ball said he was equally impressed with Tamerlan’s skills.

“I thought he fought really well … he stood out to me,” he said.

Ball also noticed that Tamerlan was a flashy dresser.

“He looked different than everybody else,” he said.

Brandon Douglas, who worked at the Wai Kru gym in Brighton, also noted changes in Tamerlan’s appearance. He said Tamerlan was originally a very flashy dresser who wore “shiny alligator shoes” and was “very clean shaven.”

Later, he said, Tamerlan dressed much more conservatively and had a “large, bushy beard.”

After a lunch break, the defense continued to call witnesses to the stand, piecing together the details of the Tsarnaev family’s life leading up to the marathon bombing.

The first witness was Sonya Petri, a paralegal in the federal defender’s office in Boston. Petri read selections from various summaries of interviews the FBI held with acquaintances of the Tsarnaev family.

The first selection was from an interview with Magomed Dolakov.

Dolakov was born in Russia and moved to the United States in 2002 due to the Chechnyan conflict. Dolakov met Tamerlan for the first time in August 2012 and could “tell right away that Tamerlan was radical.”

“Tamerlan was not open to any other beliefs,” he said in the summary. “He didn’t have the same ideas [as Dolakov] on what it meant to be a good Muslim.”

Tamerlan reportedly told Dolakov that he wanted to join the mujahideen in Russia. After meeting Tamerlan’s wife, Katherine Russell, Dolakov said he did not understand why someone would marry an American woman, have a “beautiful” child and still desire to join these groups.

Dolakov met Tamerlan again in 2013 after Tamerlan returned from his trip to Dagestan. On April 12, 2013, Dolakov accompanied Tamerlan and Dzhokhar to a gym in Allston, the last time he saw either of them before the marathon. The whole time, Dolakov reported that Dzhokhar was “very quiet” and “always listened rather than saying much.”

Petri then read a summary of an interview with Viskhan Vakhabov, who was born in Chechnya and met the Tsarnaevs two months after moving to Chelsea in 2004.  Vakhabov reported that he and Tamerlan would “have fun smoking, drinking and going to clubs” in the early years of knowing each other. Over time, however, Vakhabov began noticing changes in Tamerlan. For example, Tamerlan began telling him that true Muslims would not go out and smoke.

After Tamerlan’s trip to Dagestan, Russia, Vakhabov spoke with him a few more times before the Marathon bombings. Tamerlan reportedly told him that jihad was the right path.

Following the interview summaries, the judge addressed the jury on the nature of the reports, which were used because witnesses were unable to be at the trial. Witnesses interviewed by the FBI are not placed under oath and not subject to cross-examination. Additionally, agents do not independently fact check the statements made in the interviews.

The judge added that Vakhabov had invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify due to the possibility of self-incrimination.

Next, the defense called Sam Lipson, the son of the Tsarnaevs’ landlord while the family was living in their Cambridge apartment. Lipson, who first met Tamerlan and Dzhokhar’s father, Anzor, in 2002, described a family that went from sociable, inviting and warm to reserved, withdrawn and stress-ridden within the few years he knew them.

Lipson first met Tamerlan when he was about 15 years old, and described him as “smooth, slick and gregarious.” Unlike the younger, quieter Dzhokhar, Tamerlan was more charismatic and would initiate conversation with Lipson during their rare encounters.

Over the years, however, Lipson said he noticed changes in the family. Anzor’s wife, Zubeidat, began dressing more conservatively, covering her head and wearing darker colors. Anzor seemed to have given up his dream of renting his own garage for his mechanic business.

In 2012, Anzor and Zubeidat moved back to Dagestan, and Tamerlan and his wife lived in the apartment together with their child.

Lipson said instead of the charming, slick teenager he had once been, Tamerlan had become more reserved and distant.

“He wasn’t as outgoing and friendly as he was before,” he said.

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