12.Nathan Harman — Direct
155 linesNATHAN HARMAN, duly sworn.
COURT CLERK: Have a seat. Keep your voice up, state your name, spell your last name for the record and speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.
NATHAN HARMAN: Nathan Harman, H-A-R-M-A-N.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. WEINREB:
MR. WEINREB: Good afternoon.
NATHAN HARMAN: Good afternoon.
MR. WEINREB: Mr. Harman, if you wouldn't mind, pull the mic a little closer just so we can hear you a little better. And if you get thirsty at any time, there's water there right next to you so feel free. How old are you?
NATHAN HARMAN: Twenty-four.
MR. WEINREB: What do you do?
NATHAN HARMAN: I'm a graduate student at MIT.
MR. WEINREB: What are you studying?
NATHAN HARMAN: Mathematics.
MR. WEINREB: How long have you been at MIT?
NATHAN HARMAN: I'm in my third year.
MR. WEINREB: Did you go to college?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes.
MR. WEINREB: Where did you go?
NATHAN HARMAN: UMass Amherst.
MR. WEINREB: What kind of degree did you get?
NATHAN HARMAN: I got a bachelor's in mathematics.
MR. WEINREB: What kind of degree are you studying for now?
NATHAN HARMAN: I'm working on my Ph.D.
MR. WEINREB: And so you've been there three years. You're in your third year of -- is it a five-year program?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yup.
MR. WEINREB: Can I have Exhibit 682, please.
That's in evidence, your Honor.
MR. WEINREB: Do you see that diagram in front of you?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yup.
MR. WEINREB: Do you recognize that area?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah; that's MIT.
MR. WEINREB: Is it a particular part you're familiar with?
NATHAN HARMAN: Oh, yeah. I mean, this is one of the main courtyards at MIT. There's the Stata Center. I walk through here all the time.
MR. WEINREB: And, in fact, do you have an office at MIT?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah, my office is currently there (indicating), and then my old office is sort of off the bottom left corner of the map.
MR. WEINREB: Okay. So initially you tapped a building that left a little yellow dot, and that's on the right-hand side of Ames Street?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah, that's where my office is now. But two years ago it was sort of down this way (indicating).
MR. WEINREB: All right. How many times have you traveled through that courtyard at night during your three years at MIT?
NATHAN HARMAN: Way too many to count. All the time.
MR. WEINREB: How well lit is the courtyard?
NATHAN HARMAN: Fairly well lit. There's lights all along all of the major walkways.
MR. WEINREB: Are there also streetlights as you near Main Street?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah. Once you get to the roads there's streetlights. The buildings are always lit at night so it's pretty well lit.
MR. WEINREB: Were you in your office on the night of April 18, 2013?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes.
MR. WEINREB: What were you doing?
NATHAN HARMAN: I was there working on a problem set that was due the next day.
MR. WEINREB: Approximately what time did you leave?
NATHAN HARMAN: After ten. Maybe 10:20. Once I noticed it was after ten, that's how I knew it was time for me to give it up and go to bed.
MR. WEINREB: At that time, how did you get back and forth around the campus?
NATHAN HARMAN: I rode my bike to and from campus every day that it was -- weather permitting.
MR. WEINREB: Did you ride your bicycle that night?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes.
MR. WEINREB: Can you -- I'm going to clear that -- that -- what you made. Can you show us the route --
MR. WEINREB: It might actually be easier if we pulled up 683. Can you do that?
MR. WEINREB: That's just a closer up view of the courtyard?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah, same thing.
MR. WEINREB: Can you just, by using your finger, show us the route you took when you left on your bicycle?
NATHAN HARMAN: Sure. I would have come right up here and then up that way (indicating).
MR. WEINREB: Okay. Did you notice anything unusual when you biked through the courtyard?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes; there was a parked police cruiser, like, right here.
MR. WEINREB: Okay. Let me clear this. It's getting a little crowded with yellow. Why don't you just circle the cruiser.
NATHAN HARMAN: Right here-ish.
MR. WEINREB: Was there anything unusual about the cruiser that you noticed?
NATHAN HARMAN: When I went by, there was -- the front door was open, the driver's side door, and there was someone leaning into the driver's side door.
MR. WEINREB: What do you mean by leaning into it?
NATHAN HARMAN: I mean, they were sort of bent around the waist with their head and sort of the upper part of their torso inside the police car as I was coming up, and then they sort of stood up, startled, when I rode my bike by them.
MR. WEINREB: Okay. So explain that. So you're riding down the path. And how close to the back of that person who you saw did you come?
NATHAN HARMAN: Within five or six feet.
MR. WEINREB: And what happened exactly -- happened exactly as you drove by them?
NATHAN HARMAN: He sort of snapped up, stood up and turned around, and he looked startled, and then I just, you know, didn't think anything of it and rode off.
MR. WEINREB: Did he look at you?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes.
MR. WEINREB: Did you look at him?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes. We made eye contact.
MR. WEINREB: Did you get a good look at his face?
NATHAN HARMAN: Pretty good.
MR. WEINREB: What did he look like?
NATHAN HARMAN: I mean, he was young. I just assumed he was an MIT student. Young, normal height, thin. Yeah. He was wearing a dark sweatshirt and a hat. Yeah.
MR. WEINREB: Did you notice, did the sweatshirt have anything on it or was it just plain?
NATHAN HARMAN: Well, so I saw -- well, as I was coming up I just saw the back of his sweatshirt, and then when he turned around there was the door there, but there was something on the front, some sort of -- so the sweatshirt itself was dark and there was a lighter thing on the front, but I didn't actually see what it was.
MR. WEINREB: Were you able to tell what race he was, or color?
NATHAN HARMAN: I thought he was white.
MR. WEINREB: Did he seem skinny, fat?
NATHAN HARMAN: Skinny, yeah. Thin.
MR. WEINREB: When you say like normal height, what does that mean to you?
NATHAN HARMAN: I mean, shorter than me. I'm six foot-ish. So I would guess maybe -- not particularly short, but maybe five-eight? I don't know. I'm not good at judging that.
MR. WEINREB: Any facial feature that stood out for you?
NATHAN HARMAN: I remember thinking he had a big nose, but nothing beyond that really.
MR. WEINREB: Do you see that person in the courtroom today?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes.
MR. WEINREB: Can you indicate for us where he is and an item of clothing that he's wearing?
NATHAN HARMAN: He's right there (indicating). He has a blue shirt on. Yes.
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, may the record reflect the identification of the defendant.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. WEINREB: Can we have Exhibit 725 just for the witness for a moment.
BY MR. WEINREB:
MR. WEINREB: Do you recognize what this is a --
NATHAN HARMAN: The same courtyard as the last picture.
MR. WEINREB: Do you recall reviewing a segment of this video that you --
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes, I've now seen this video. It's been shown to me a few times.
MR. WEINREB: And is it a fair and accurate picture of what's depicted in it?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah, to the best of my recollection. Yes.
MR. WEINREB: The government offers 725.
MR. WATKINS: No objection.
THE COURT: Okay.
(Government Exhibit No. 725 received into evidence.)
BY MR. WEINREB:
MR. WEINREB: So I'm playing the video now. Let me just draw your attention to the pathway that leads up to the cruiser. Do you see a figure on a bicycle biking up that path?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah. That's me.
(Video played.)
MR. WEINREB: So when the figure snapped up and looked you in the eyes and you made eye contact, you didn't stop at that point; you just kept going?
NATHAN HARMAN: No, I just laughed, actually. I thought I just startled him and I kept going.
MR. WEINREB: Did you see a second person by the car?
NATHAN HARMAN: No, I only saw the one person.
MR. WEINREB: Could I have Exhibit 758 for identification, please. And can I also then have --
MR. WEINREB: Can you just take a look at 758, please?
MR. WEINREB: Can I also have Exhibit 761 for identification.
MR. WEINREB: Do you recognize the person pictured in 760 and -- I'm sorry -- 758 and 761?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yes.
MR. WEINREB: How does that person compare to the person you saw that night?
NATHAN HARMAN: That definitely could have been the person I saw that night.
MR. WEINREB: The design on the front of the sweatshirt, is that consistent with what you saw that night?
NATHAN HARMAN: That's definitely consistent with what I saw.
MR. WEINREB: What about the -- you said the person was wearing a cap of some kind. Is this what he was wearing?
NATHAN HARMAN: That's not the hat that I remember seeing. I remember seeing a, like, more knit hat that you pull over your head.
MR. WEINREB: So the thing that's more like a knit cap that you pull over your head, did it have a bill?
NATHAN HARMAN: Not that I remember, no.
MR. WEINREB: Okay. And was it the same height on the person's head all the way around, like an ordinary knit cap?
NATHAN HARMAN: I don't know.
MR. WEINREB: It was just looked like a knit cap?
NATHAN HARMAN: Just a knit cap, yeah.
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, the government offers 760 and 761.
MR. WATKINS: No objection.
THE COURT: I'm sorry?
MR. WEINREB: I'm sorry. 758 and 761. I'm sorry.
MR. WATKINS: No objection.
(Government Exhibit No. 758 and 761 received into evidence.)
MR. WEINREB: If we could start with 758, and then 761, please.
(Exhibits displayed.)
BY MR. WEINREB:
MR. WEINREB: Now I would like to show you Exhibit 821 for identification.
(Pause.)
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, could you turn it off, please.
(Pause.)
MR. WEINREB: Let's try 820 for identification.
MR. WEINREB: Do you see the hat that's pictured in that photo?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah, I see it.
MR. WEINREB: Okay. Is that the same kind of -- I'm not saying it's that one, but is that the same kind of cap that you saw the individual wearing?
NATHAN HARMAN: Yeah, it was that kind of cap. I don't remember the, like, particular pattern or the logo or anything, but it was that type of cap.
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, we're not going to offer that at this time.
Thank you, Mr. Harman. No further questions.
MR. WATKINS: No questions, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right, Mr. Harman. Thank you. You may step down.
(The witness is excused.)
THE COURT: I think in light of the hour, that's as far as we'll go today. We'll recess until nine tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening. Follow my instructions about avoiding any discussion of the case or any exposure to media accounts about the case. Enjoy the evening and we'll see you tomorrow.
We'll be in recess.
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury. The Court will be in recess.
(The Court and jury exit the courtroom and the proceedings adjourned at 3:54 p.m.)