Rachel Otty

Rachel Otty testified for the defense on Day 55 about teaching Dzhokhar Tsarnaev modern history at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in spring 2011. She described readings, written responses, and classroom debates in which she almost always assigned students' positions. She remembered him only a little and did not recall him taking extreme positions or speaking much in class.

During direct examination, Otty said Exhibit 1142-147 appeared to be homework answering her questions about Jane Mayer's article, The Predator War. Judy Clarke described the exhibit as previously admitted. Aloke Chakravarty objected to counsel's narration about its identity and origin, not to its display, and the court allowed the examination to proceed. The article itself was displayed as an illustrative aid, not admitted into evidence.

On cross-examination, Otty explained assignments examining terrorism through conflict case studies. She acknowledged that she did not know Tsarnaev well, had not stayed in touch, and did not hear from every classroom group. She knew nothing of his related conversations outside class and did not confirm the prosecution's suggestion that he had withheld his real opinions about whether terrorism was justified. The court overruled two defense scope objections, then sustained an objection to a further question about support for freedom fighters, stating that the question was not evidence.