Boston Marathon Bombing Trial: Government Rests Case

The defense in the Boston Marathon bombing trial rested its case on Monday, May 11, following two weeks of testimonies from admitted bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s family members.

Tsarnaev was convicted in April 2015 of all 30 charges against him. Three people were killed and more than 260 others were wounded when twin bombs exploded at the 2013 marathon.

A jury must decide whether to sentence Tsarnaev to life in prison or to death.

Prosecutors immediately began their rebuttal case against Tsarnaev following the May 11 rest.

Government called Michelle Nicolet, an FBI agent, to the stand. Nicolet is working on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). She oversees SAMs (Special Administrative Measures), which are restrictions on prisoner communications.

Nicolet says a prisoner’s SAMs might expire naturally, or be modified based on a prisoner’s requests. Sometimes inmate SAMs are violated.

Warden John Oliver, from the ADX facility in Colorado, was called to the stand next. ADX is where Tsarnaev would likely live if saved from the death penalty.

Oliver says an ADX inmate is granted a maximum of five social visits every month, and unlimited legal visits. The cells there have beds, desks and prisoners are allowed to exercise in their rooms. Inmates can even earn college degrees while at ADX.

The government rested its case on May 11. The judge told the jurors that they will hear closing arguments and instructions on Wednesday, May 13. Deliberations are scheduled to start on that date as well.

More Patch coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing trial is below:

At federal court on April 30, five Tsarnaev relatives, flown in from Russia, were expected to testify in his defense. After the trial session that day was cut short due to a sick juror, things resumed on the following Monday.

Tsarnaev’s cousin with the last name Suleimanova flew in from Moscow to testify. She had never left Russia before.

Suleimanova shared details about her cousin’s childhood demeanor. “He understood tragedy,” she said, referencing a time Dzhokhar cried after seeing Mufasa’s death in “The Lion King.”

Dzhokhar cried in court Monday, according to WHDH.

Her mother is Zubeidat’s sister. Zubeidat, who she described as cold, is Dzhokhar’s mom. Anzor, Dzhokhar’s father, was described as hard-working and very much in love with Zubeidat.

Another Suleimanova, with the first name Naida, went on the stand next. She also lives in Moscow, and hadn’t seen Dzhokhar since 2002. She spoke of his childhood innocence.

Tsarnaev was perceived as easygoing by his friends. Rosa Booth, a junior at Mass College of Art, was classmates with Dzhokhar. She said he was shy. Her last time seeing him was in August 2012 at a backyard barbecue. A picture of the event, which Booth posted on Facebook five days after the bombings, was shown to jurors.

Alexa Guevara, who was the last witness on Monday, May 4, sobbed in court.

See also- POLL: Should Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Get the Death Penalty?

April 29 resulted in the peers of Tsarnaev reminiscing. He was described, by UMass Dartmouth friend Alexa Guevara, as an average college-aged man, with a close group of friends and a penchant for partying.

On Tuesday, April 28, as on the day before, focus was on the influence of Dzhokhar’s brother Tamerlan. A photo of the elder brother holding a handgun was displayed in trial before being released to the public.

Testimony zeroed in on the late Tsarnaev’s wife Katherine Russell, raising questions about what she knew before the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

Mark Spencer, a computer expert testifying for the defense, said a computer belonging to the couple contained Internet searches done more than a year before the bombings for search terms that included “rewards for wife of mujahedeen” and “If your husband becomes a shahid, what are the rewards for you?”

>>> See also: A Year Before Bombings, Katherine Russell Googled “Rewards for Wife of Mujahadeen”

Mujahedeen is the Arabic word for holy warrior; a shahid is a term for a martyr who dies during a holy war.

Twenty-six-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a shootout with police hours during a getaway attempt three days after the bombing. Dzhokhar’s lawyers have argued that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was the mastermind of the bombings.

The report from an FBI agent’s April 2013 interview with Tamerlan’s friend Magomed Dolakov was read on Tuesday. The two met through their Islam studies, though Dolakov says he considered Tamerlan to be a radical after several faith-related discussions.

Tamerlan’s boxing peers noted he procrastinated from wearing protective gear and did not respect the other patrons at the rings he attended.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s relatives arrived at Logan Airport last Thursday and stayed at a hotel in Revere before the FBI moved them to an undisclosed location Saturday morning. They arrived in Massachusetts to be witnesses for the defense in the sentencing portion of Tsarnaev’s trial.

On April 27, Gina Crawford, best friend of Katherine Russell, Tamerlan’s wife, said she texted her the day of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, saying as far as she knew, her husband was at home at the time of the attacks.

Crawford testified for the defense in the federal death penalty trial of Dzhokhar, who is Tamerlan’s younger brother.

Tamerlan’s mother-in-law, Judith Russell, says she learned from her daughter that Tamerlan had been killed. Russell says she and other relatives went to Cambridge that day to get Katherine and the child of the young married couple.

Russell also said Monday that she and her husband were not happy when Katherine began dating Tamerlan, who she says cheated on her daughter.

Imam Loay Assaf testified Monday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev got very angry during a prayer service in 2013 when Assaf praised Martin Luther King Jr. and compared him to the Prophet Muhammad.

Assaf says Tamerlan interrupted the service, started shouting at him and calling him a “hypocrite.”

On Thursday, a video showing the mother of 8-year-old Martin Richard crouched over him and resting her head on his chest as he lay dying was shown to the jury.

Steve Woolfenden, a man who was lying on the pavement next to Martin, recounted losing his left leg. Also testifying Thursday was Heather Abbott, whose left leg was amputated after the bombing.

The penalty phase of the Boston Marathon bombing trial, which began on Tuesday, April 21, consisted of a handful of witness testimonies and graphic photographs.

Federal prosecutors showed the jury an image, labeled as Exhibit #1595, which shows convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev giving the middle finger to a security camera at the courthouse under three months after the blasts.

Judge O’Toole advised jurors not to sentence based on what they think the victims’ families might want.

“This is your decision alone,” he said. “You must not consider the defendant’s or the victims’ race, color, religious beliefs, national origin or sex.”

Debate over whether Tsarnaev should get the death penalty intensified recently after the parents of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy who was killed in the bombings, urged federal authorities to consider taking death off the table. The Richard family prefers Tsarnaev spends the rest of his life in prison and gives up his rights to appeal.

“We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives,” Bill and Denise Richard said in a statement to The Boston Globe last week.

Bombing survivor Celeste Corcoran, who has two prosthetic legs because of the blasts, was called to the stand Tuesday. She attended the 2013 race to support her sister who was running in the event. Concoran’s daughter Sydney testified in the first phase of the trial.

Concoran and her family ended up moving as close to the finish line as they could to see her sister cross. They reached the front of Marathon Sports.

After hearing this part of Corcoran’s recollection, the jury was shown a photo of the family standing in the crowd moments before the explosions.

Corcoran described in horrific detail the pain and anxiety she endured immediately after the blasts. After being transported to Boston Medical Center and having surgery to amputate both of her legs, Concoran found out her daughter Sydney was at the same facility. The two shared a hospital room during their respective recovery processes.

Survivor Gillian Reny and William Campbell, III, brother of victim Krystle Campbell, were the next two to testify. The Campbell siblings were humanized through childhood photographs shown to the jury. William Campbell, Jr., Krystle’s father, was called to the stand after his son. He reminisced about his relationship with Krystle.

Nicole Gross, a visitor from Maryland, was in Boston to support her mother who was running in the event. She recounted her own injuries and that of her family’s.

Photo: Patch story entitled FBI: Releasing Marathon Suspect Photos ‘Best Decision’