1.Jury View of the Boat
68 linesP R O C E E D I N G S
(The following proceedings were held off the courthouse premises:)
THE COURT: I just want to begin by putting on the record that we are assembled here in the warehouse to view the boat that is at issue in the case. Counsel for both sides are present: Ms. Clarke, Mr. Bruck, Mr. Watkins; Mr. Weinreb for the government, Mr. Chakravarty and Ms. Pellegrini. And the procedure will simply be that the jury will be seated, I'll have a few remarks to them about how they should view the boat.
This is essentially a non-speaking occasion. My thought is that the jurors will be able to walk around on the ground level, just circulate, and then they'll go up on the platform that is a fixed platform on the starboard side of the boat. And I've asked the custodians here to have a movable forklift so that they can also go up on the portside so they can see the interior from that side as well.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Your Honor, on that issue, law enforcement/government officials have, frankly, expressed a liability concern in doing that. I indicated to them that pursuant to the court order they should make that happen.
THE COURT: I've had a similar conversation with them off the record. I did it myself at the other warehouse so I think it could be safely done. We'll be careful.
So that's about it. I mean, this is, again, not an occasion for anybody to be particularly commenting, including myself, except to invite them to view what they want to view and make notes, take the time to look at whatever they want. There were a few things that the defense had suggested they be called -- their attention be called to including the engine block and some cutouts. There are some cutouts, I guess, in the stern. Isn't there a cutout? I'm happy to do that. I would like to know what the significance is, myself, if any.
MR. WATKINS: I don't know exactly what the significance is. Certainly two wood slats were cut out. I think the jury's going to see that.
THE COURT: Well, there's one square on the stern. Where's the other one?
MR. WATKINS: On the portside here on the inside.
THE COURT: Near where the writing is?
MS. CLARKE: Yes. Down at the bottom there were two slats.
THE COURT: And the engine block?
MR. WATKINS: That was just really to guide the jury for what I think is going to be at least some of the evidence. That's where this knit hat was found that the government is going to introduce.
THE COURT: And a knit hat was found?
MR. WATKINS: A knit hat.
MR. WEINREB: We have no objection to their attention being drawn to the engine block. We also think that's significant.
THE COURT: All right. Where is it, right in the center?
MR. WEINREB: Right in the center, that big white rectangle thing sticking up. Other than that, the Court is not going to be directing them to blood, if any?
THE COURT: No, I'm not going to direct them to blood or bullet holes. It's obvious. The one thing that I think they'll be able to see is the location of the writing. I think it's obvious, but perhaps it would be useful. They've already seen the writing.
MR. WEINREB: I think the experience of many of us first looking at the boat, it's a little hard to -- you don't know where you're looking at. So I would --
THE COURT: So you're agreeing with that?
MR. WEINREB: I'd propose it should be pointed out.
THE COURT: Good. So this shouldn't take long. It's up to the jurors. I'll give them, within reason, as much time as they need.
MR. WATKINS: Judge, in regard to the blood on the back of the boat, that's not immediately obvious because it's faded over time down there. I don't know whether that is something the judge can point out. They wouldn't see it unless you actually looked for it.
THE COURT: Where is it? Can you describe it? Is it on the interior or exterior?
MR. WATKINS: It's on the exterior. It's on the middle left side. You can see it but I -- probably just because I know it's there I could see it, but a juror looking at it might not see that.
THE COURT: I'm not sure what the significance is.
MR. WATKINS: It is difficult to forecast in advance, but I believe Mr. Henneberry will talk about going up to a particular point of that boat where the shrink wrap was undone. And I think what we would want -- I think the inference is going to be that Mr. Tsarnaev was already bleeding by the time he was getting into the boat because that's where the blood trail is.
THE COURT: Okay. The bags that are on the other side I'm told are just containing the shrink wrap that was used to wrap the boat.
MS. CLARKE: Right.
THE COURT: They have it there as biohazard.
MS. CLARKE: And apparently the wood is what the shrink wrap rested on.
THE COURT: That's what I'm told. So as a general matter, then, I'm not sure there's any disagreement with this, the boat, except for the cutouts, as I understand it, is in the condition it was found in. I don't know about the cutouts or not.
MR. WEINREB: That's true of the boat as a physical object. The inside of the boat, there were things that had been removed.
MS. CLARKE: And the shrink wrap has been removed.
MR. WEINREB: And the shrink wrap has been removed.
THE COURT: By the shrink wrap, you mean -- you're talking about the tarp?
MS. CLARKE: It was covered in a --
MR. WEINREB: It was shrink-wrapped and unshrink-wrapped at various times since then.
THE COURT: Just for casual reporting, I thought it was a tarp rather than shrink wrap.
MR. WEINREB: When Mr. Henneberry would winterize it, he would shrink-wrap it and then put a tarp over it.
THE COURT: So it was shrink-wrapped?
MR. WEINREB: At the time of the incident.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Your Honor, just for the record, in terms of adaptations to the boat, the cutout, we had confirmed that the cutout in the rear of the boat was for purposes of the FBI's analysis of the bullet trajectories and was purely a view port so they could see in the transom, I guess, of the boat. And that's what the rear is.
And the other portion they're referring to was the two slats that were removed from the boat that had writing on it. These actually had screws. But we do agree that was -- it's relevant evidence.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, I don't know if you put on the record that the defendant is also present.
THE COURT: I did not, but he is present.
MS. CLARKE: Thank you.
THE COURT: So the jury is on the way, and they'll come in and sit here and I'll probably go over to them -- and you can move your chair -- and I'll say a few things. Listen in. And then they'll be on their way.
(Pause.)
(The jury enters the warehouse at 8:20 a.m.)
THE COURT: Good morning, jurors.
JUROR: Good morning.
THE COURT: Thank you for being here.
JUROR: Thank you.
THE COURT: I'm going to keep my hands in my pockets.
As you can appreciate now, obviously, we brought you here this morning so you could take a look at the boat which you've heard about and will probably hear more about. This is an opportunity to view the physical setup of the boat, its characteristics and so on. As a matter of fact, in the legal terminology that applies to this kind of event, this is called a jury view of the boat.
There will be no other evidence taken. No one is going to give testimony or anything; it's just an opportunity for each of you to make whatever observations you think are important to you to help you understand any issues in the case.
The procedure we'll follow is you will first -- you see it's on a flatbed. You'll be able to walk all the way around and take -- make observations from this level of anything. You're free, of course, to take notes. Please don't talk with each other about it. This is only your individual opportunity to look at the boat.
After you've had a chance to walk around on the ground level, then there's a platform, a fixed platform on the other side you'll be able to go up, I think nine at a time rather than the whole group, and you'll be able to look into the interior of the boat at that time and make whatever observations that you think are important there.
After you've done that, we're going to have you come around, and there's a forklift over there which only can carry a couple of people at a time, but if you want to go up so you can see the other side of the boat. You'll notice when you're on the flat platform you could see the port side, the interior of the port side but not the starboard side. So if we put it up, you'll be able to have a similar view there.
There are a couple of features the parties have suggested you pay attention to. There are some cutout areas that you'll hear about; some places where a panel or two have been cut out or something else removed. The parties agree that you should take a look at what's called the engine block, which is a white structure in the center, and anything else, of course, that appears to you. You'll probably see writing that we've heard about already in the evidence, there are blood stains in various places that you may observe in the stern, and anything else. Again, it's up to you to take your time. This is the one time you will have to make these observations, all right?
So I think with that, we can begin the process. If you want to just start filing around, again, take your own pace. When you're done, of course, we'll pile back into the vehicles and we'll head back to the courtroom.
(The jurors examine the boat.)
THE COURT: May I add one other thing. To preserve the integrity of the evidence, be sure you don't touch anything. I just want to make that clear.
(The jurors continue to examine the boat.)
THE COURT: Jurors, this will be a forklift that will lift you up. Anybody who doesn't want to do it, if you're concerned about the height, you don't have to do it. But this is your opportunity to do it. I've done it; it's safe.
(The jurors continue to examine the boat.)
THE COURT: Okay, jurors. That's it. Please, no conversation about what you've seen. We'll be back in the vans and get back to where it's warm, and hopefully there will be hot coffee there. We'll resume when everybody is back in place.
(The view adjourned at 8:53 a.m.)
P 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 10:23 a.m.)
COURT CLERK: Be seated.
THE COURT: All right. We're ready to proceed.
MR. MELLIN: Good morning, your Honor. The United States calls Officer Joseph Reynolds.