Rosa Booth

Rosa Booth testified for the defense on Day 57 about her high-school friendship with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, whom she called Jahar. She recalled meeting him in math class in 2011, talking and drawing together, and finding him sweet, somewhat shy, and not a leader within their peer group. She acknowledged smoking marijuana with him. She had never visited his house, did not remember discussions of politics or religion, and thought their last meeting was in August 2012.

Two photographs from an August 2012 barbecue were admitted. The defense also offered Booth's Facebook writing as character and mitigation evidence. The government argued that her personal reactions could confuse the jury's assessment of Tsarnaev's character. The court excluded the posting but permitted questions about whether his conduct was consistent with her prior observations. When Miriam Conrad instead asked about Booth's feelings, the court sustained an objection after Booth began answering, and direct examination ended.

On cross-examination, Aloke Chakravarty tested the extent of Booth's knowledge of Tsarnaev. She maintained that she believed she knew him, but acknowledged seeing him only once in 2012 and not in person afterward; she thought they later communicated on Facebook. She said she learned of the Silva brothers' drug dealing in 2013, after the Marathon. The court allowed that inquiry with a clarified time period, then sustained objections to questions about continued contact with the brothers and one brother staying at her house. On redirect, Booth explained that she had declined Tsarnaev's prom invitation because she was very shy, despite having a crush on him.