1.Sarah De Lair — Direct/Cross (Part 2)
224 linesP R O C E E D I N G S
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury.
(The Court and jury enter the courtroom at 9:14 a.m.)
COURT CLERK: Be seated.
THE COURT: Good morning, jurors.
JUROR: Good morning.
THE COURT: Go ahead, Ms. Pellegrini.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Good morning, your Honor.
SARAH DE LAIR, resumed
DIRECT EXAMINATION CONTINUED BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Good morning, Ms. De Lair.
SARAH DE LAIR: Good morning.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Agent De Lair, yesterday when we last spoke we discussed the items that were collected from Boylston Street. And I'd like to direct your attention to several items specifically from Scene B.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Before I do, I would ask that Exhibit 620 be brought up, please.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Agent De Lair, before coming into court today, did you and I select several items out of the approximately 542 items that were entered into evidence yesterday?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: I'd like to direct your attention first to Exhibit 50 now in evidence.
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And does that also have a Q number?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what number is that?
SARAH DE LAIR: Q11.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Agent De Lair, that's before -- directing your attention actually to the physical exhibit, looking at the screen and the photo in front of you, do you recognize that?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what is that?
SARAH DE LAIR: That's Scene B, and circled is the item that is contained within this container.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. So enlarging the picture on the screen, the yellow circle to my right, is that the item in question?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And is that actually contained in the container marked Exhibit 50?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: I'd ask you now, with the permission of the Court, to open the container.
THE COURT: All right.
SARAH DE LAIR: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: And if you would remove the contents?
SARAH DE LAIR: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: And you're holding up the contents which are, for the record, in several pieces. It appears to be a black and white item. Do you know what that item is, Agent De Lair?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what is that?
SARAH DE LAIR: It's a backpack.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And this was recovered from Scene B?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: In the location on the photograph that's on your monitor?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Directing your attention to the second photo that appears in Exhibit 620 on the screen, is that, in fact, a close-up of the item we just looked at?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And continuing with those photos, do you know what this is?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what is this?
SARAH DE LAIR: It's the item contained inside that container.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And is this, in fact, what we call a Q photo?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And that means what?
SARAH DE LAIR: That the laboratory took that photo.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So do you know who uses the ruler, how that gets in that photo?
SARAH DE LAIR: That would be the laboratory.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And if one looks at the ruler, what do you see as the label on that ruler?
SARAH DE LAIR: It's Q11, which is labeled on the container here.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And on the Exhibit 620 on the monitors, that is listed under a classification of both "concealment" and "explosive residue." Is that correct? Am I reading that correctly?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. The next item is Exhibit 74.
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And the Q number for that, please?
SARAH DE LAIR: Q44.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And can you tell us what that container contains?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes. It's part of a pressure cooker.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you open that, please, with the permission of the Court?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So I'd note for the record you're holding up a large metal object. And you said it was part of the pressure cooker. How do you know that?
SARAH DE LAIR: Because I'm familiar with what it looks like.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And with respect to the location on 620 where those dots are located, does that fairly and accurately indicate its position when it was found?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And the picture that one can link to -- specifically I'll go to this one first -- what is this? What are we looking at here?
SARAH DE LAIR: You're looking at a photo of this item, which is Q44.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And can you tell us where this is located in this picture, if you know?
SARAH DE LAIR: It's on Scene B in front of the Forum.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And more specifically, with respect to this item, does it have a marker?
SARAH DE LAIR: Oh, yes. Marker No. 2.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So enlarging the photo, at the bottom of the screen, directly in the middle with a light green marker, is that, in fact, the marker you're referring to?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And continuing on the photos that are linked to here, is this a close-up of that same location?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Is that the same?
SARAH DE LAIR: It is.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And so is this, in fact, the location that was noted by the observers and the collectors before it was taken from the street at Boylston?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Again, a close-up?
SARAH DE LAIR: Close-up with scale.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And this item?
SARAH DE LAIR: That's a photo taken from the laboratory.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So again, what we call the Q photo?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct. And it's listed as Q44.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, this is listed under the color coding on 620 as under "assembly material container and explosive residue." Do you know the difference between those categories and what those mean?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And can you explain first with respect to "assembly material," what that refers to?
SARAH DE LAIR: The "assembly material" is items that were used to make the bomb.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And with respect to "concealment"?
SARAH DE LAIR: "Concealment" is something that would have contained items to make a bomb or explosives.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And "explosive residue"?
SARAH DE LAIR: Is the actual residue from a bomb.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Moving on to Exhibit 82, please.
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And Exhibit 82 has a Q number as well, I take it?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes; Q51.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And Exhibit 82 with Q51, you've just removed that from the bag?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes. Do you want me to further review it?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Yes, please. All right. So for the record, you're holding up a small piece of --
SARAH DE LAIR: Wire.
MS. PELLEGRINI: -- green wire. Is that green? Am I correct, the color?
SARAH DE LAIR: It appears to be, yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And, again, going to the photograph that's linked to this exhibit and this Q number on Exhibit 620, is this, in fact, the close-up of the Q photo of that item?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Next moving on to -- I'm sorry. And what type of category is this listed under? It says "fusing system"?
SARAH DE LAIR: A part that would be used for the bomb that would make it go off.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Moving on to Exhibit 86, please.
SARAH DE LAIR: I'm sorry. What number?
MS. PELLEGRINI: I'm sorry. Actually, let me step back a little bit. Exhibit 157.
THE COURT: Is that 157 or 167?
MS. PELLEGRINI: 157, your Honor. 157.
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: And, Agent De Lair, you've just removed that item from the plastic bag. What is that?
SARAH DE LAIR: It's a piece of material that says the word "Fox" on it.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And do you know what that comes from?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes; it comes from a backpack.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Is "Fox" the brand name?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And that is Exhibit 157. And what Q number is that, please?
SARAH DE LAIR: Q135.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Mr. Bruemmer, can you bring that up, 135 on that?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Bear with me while I get this photo up. Agent De Lair, with respect to Exhibit 157 and the photograph that appears linked to it on Exhibit 620, could you tell us what we're looking at here?
SARAH DE LAIR: This is a part of the scene. I'm trying to see closer where the item is. So, yeah, closer up, that's the piece of material that I was looking at.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And if I go back one photo, that appears to be slightly off the sidewalk in the center. I'm marking this with a little red arrow now, correct?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct. And there's a close-up with scale.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And finally, this --
SARAH DE LAIR: This is the photo taken from the lab marked as Q135.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Thank you. And the final exhibit I'm going to ask you about is Exhibit, I believe it's 186.
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And that's contained in a paint can, correct?
SARAH DE LAIR: It is.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And I would ask you to open that, please.
SARAH DE LAIR: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: And can you describe for the jury and for the record what is contained in there? You can actually remove it, if you can.
SARAH DE LAIR: So it's pieces of shrapnel. You have BBs encased in some kind of paper, you have shards of metal, a zipper, pieces of black material, small nails, and the bottom is -- let's see. And some duct tape and lots of BBs at the bottom.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And this also has a Q number. Can you tell us what that is, please?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes. Q157.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And using Exhibit 620 and highlighting 157 and going to the photo, are these the items that are, in fact, contained in Exhibit 186?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And this is, in fact, another Q photo. Is that correct?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes; that's a photo taken from the lab.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can I have that back up on the screen, please, Mr. Bruemmer.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Agent De Lair, there was one classification we did not yet talk about and that's the sort of dark blue called "fragmentation." Do you know what that means in way of classification?
SARAH DE LAIR: It's just items that may have been used in the bomb, but that can be BBs, nails, other things.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. Thank you. I have no further questions.
MS. CLARKE: Just a few questions.
THE COURT: Okay. All right.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLARKE:
MS. CLARKE: Good morning. My name is Judy Clarke. I'm one of Mr. Tsarnaev's lawyers.
SARAH DE LAIR: Good morning.
MS. CLARKE: I just had a couple of questions. You focused us on -- one of the items was Q11, the backpack. Q11.
SARAH DE LAIR: One second.
MS. CLARKE: I could probably pull it up here, if I could see.
SARAH DE LAIR: Oh, the main backpack? Yup. Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And in that backpack there appear to be some pieces of paper?
SARAH DE LAIR: Do you want me to open it again?
MS. CLARKE: Sure. Or I can pull it up and you can look at it.
SARAH DE LAIR: Yeah, sure.
MS. CLARKE: I might be able to pull it up.
SARAH DE LAIR: I can open it up. It might be easier.
(Pause.)
MS. CLARKE: I think I've got it with some able help here. Q11, and you can see it's circled in yellow on the screen?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: I think I can point at it. Right?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And then if we could enlarge that? If I can enlarge that.
Mr. Watkins can hold his computer up but I don't think that will -- zoom out?
MS. CLARKE: Have you got it?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And can you see that there are pieces of paper in there?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yeah, it's kind of Styrofoam-like?
MS. CLARKE: Paper or Styrofoam?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And was this item submitted for fingerprints, do you know?
SARAH DE LAIR: I don't know.
MS. CLARKE: Can you tell from the packaging?
SARAH DE LAIR: All I can tell from the packaging is there is a Q number, which means it was entered into the laboratory for examination and they took a photo of it. From there it's -- it goes into the laboratory evidence control, and then it's sent out for whatever testing is necessary. But I don't know.
MS. CLARKE: You can't tell from that. But the fact that we have this Q photograph in front of us on the screen means that the laboratory had it?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct.
MS. CLARKE: And took a photograph of it and would have passed it along for testing?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct.
MS. CLARKE: Okay. And that was at the -- outside of the Forum called Scene B?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct.
MS. CLARKE: Can I take you to Scene 1, one of the items that you entered into evidence yesterday.
MS. CLARKE: Perhaps, Paul, you can take me to Scene 1.
MS. CLARKE: And I want to just focus for just a second on Item 199, Q199. And can you tell us what Q199 is from that photograph?
SARAH DE LAIR: I cannot. So the Q number was provided by the lab, so it would have an S number for on-scene.
MS. CLARKE: All right. Can we go in more depth? I can do that. If we can find Q199.26. Oh, there we go. It seems to be cardboard. Is that right?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes --
MS. CLARKE: Q199?
SARAH DE LAIR: -- that's what it appears to be.
MS. CLARKE: Multiple pieces of shredded cardboard?
SARAH DE LAIR: With duct tape, it looks like.
MS. CLARKE: And that would have also gone to the lab because it has a Q number?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And pictures would have been taken of it at the lab?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes. If it was submitted to the lab, yes.
MS. CLARKE: And you can tell it was submitted to the lab because it has a Q number?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct.
MS. CLARKE: Q199. And there seem to be multiple pieces of Q199. So would the lab have given them .1, .2, .3, that kind of identifier?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes. So it would have gone to the lab as one piece, and then based on what kind of analysis it had to have, they may have repackaged it and given it the .1, or .2, or --
MS. CLARKE: All the way up to .26 or .27 -- however many pieces?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct.
MS. CLARKE: And then the lab would have then sent it off for testing?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And Q199 is found at Scene 1, outside of Marathon Sports, correct?
SARAH DE LAIR: Yes.
MS. CLARKE: And Q11 was found outside of the Forum restaurant, Scene 2?
SARAH DE LAIR: Correct.
MS. CLARKE: Thank you. I have no further questions.
THE COURT: All right, Agent. Thank you. You may step down.
(The witness is excused.)
THE COURT: What are you going to do with the exhibits?
MS. PELLEGRINI: I have to remove them, your Honor. If I may have a moment.
MR. WATKINS: Judge, while we're waiting, if we could have a sidebar with respect to the next witness.
THE COURT: All right.