6.D.J. Fife — Direct/Cross
126 linesD.J. FIFE, duly sworn
COURT CLERK: State your name, spell your last name for the record, speak into the mic and make sure everyone can hear you.
D.J. FIFE: My name is D.J. Fife. My last name is spelled F-I-F-E.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Good afternoon, Mr. Fife.
D.J. FIFE: Good afternoon.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Will you tell the jury by whom you're employed.
D.J. FIFE: I'm employed by the FBI.
MS. PELLEGRINI: In what capacity?
D.J. FIFE: I'm a physical scientist, forensic examiner in the Latent Prints Operations Unit at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And how long have you held that position?
D.J. FIFE: Almost 11 years.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And briefly, could you give us some of your educational and professional background?
D.J. FIFE: I have a bachelor's degree from Utah State University in Logan, Utah, and I have a master's degree in molecular microbiology from UMass Boston. I completed an 18-month training program with the bureau to become a physical scientist forensic examiner.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And also briefly, can you tell the jury what a physical scientist does?
D.J. FIFE: So in my case I work in the latent print unit. So what I do is I receive items of evidence. I process those items of evidence for the presence or detection of latent fingerprints. I can compare those latent fingerprints to known fingerprints, I can also launch those prints in a database, do automated searches. And then I issue a report, and I can testify to that in court.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, as a result of your duties, do you often go to various crime scenes yourself?
D.J. FIFE: I am ERT-trained. I don't go that often, but I -- sometimes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: In this particular case, did you happen to get called to Boston on April 19th of 2013?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And when did you actually arrive in Boston?
D.J. FIFE: It was later in the evening sometime. Like we had been rescheduled a couple of times, so...
MS. PELLEGRINI: And where did you go to? What was your assignment, actually?
D.J. FIFE: My assignment was to collect known fingerprints from two individuals.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And where were you going to go to do that?
D.J. FIFE: The first -- they picked us up at the airport and they drove us to a location where we printed one person, and then we were taken to the second location where we printed the second person.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And was one of those locations Beth Israel Hospital here in Boston?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, I know we've talked about fingerprints, but I'm not going to ask you about any fingerprints at this phase. What I want to ask you about is did you see the receipt of property from the defendant, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?
D.J. FIFE: Yes, I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And you were present when property was taken from his person and bagged into evidence?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. I'd like to show you what's been marked as identification as Government's Exhibit 921.
MS. PELLEGRINI: May I approach, your Honor?
THE COURT: All right.
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Do you recognize that package?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And do you recognize the contents?
D.J. FIFE: The contents or the content?
MS. PELLEGRINI: The contents.
D.J. FIFE: Would you like me to open it?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Not just yet.
D.J. FIFE: Okay.
MS. PELLEGRINI: But do you recall seeing this property removed from the defendant and being taken into evidence and bagged in that manner?
D.J. FIFE: Yes. I remember Special Agent Crow and Lord writing these labels on the bag.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And with respect to the contents, did you see the contents of the bag specifically?
D.J. FIFE: Before it was bagged everything was placed on brown paper and photographed.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Your Honor, the government would offer the Exhibit 921.
MR. WATKINS: No objection.
(Government Exhibit No. 921 received into evidence.)
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Agent Fife, I'm going to ask you to open the evidence envelope which is currently sealed.
D.J. FIFE: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: In removing the contents, can you describe for the jury what they're seeing.
D.J. FIFE: It's labeled "952.27 in U.S. currency."
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, you indicated that you saw this currency laid out on paper before it was bagged?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Did you make any particular observations about the nature and denominations of the currency?
D.J. FIFE: It was taken out of a wallet. There were some identification cards and there was also cash. There was a large number of crisp $20 bills.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Do you recall the amount of the large -- the large amount of the crisp $20 bills?
D.J. FIFE: It was probably close to $900.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And thereafter it was taken from the hospital and it went into evidence, correct?
D.J. FIFE: After we left the hospital, we took this -- all the evidence, and we took it to the evidence location and signed it into evidence storage, yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. Thank you.
MS. PELLEGRINI: I have no further questions.
THE COURT: Any defense examination?
MR. WATKINS: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Good afternoon, Agent Fife.
D.J. FIFE: Good afternoon. I'm actually not an agent, just for the record.
MR. WATKINS: I'm sorry. Mr. Fife. You actually went over to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And that's where you obtained the items that you -- that you forwarded to the lab?
D.J. FIFE: Yes; I was part -- I don't think my name appears on the chain of custody, but I was in the room when it happened, yes.
MR. WATKINS: And there were several FBI special agents and other persons like yourself?
D.J. FIFE: Yes; I think there were five. There was a photographer and special agents and ERT personnel and two latent fingerprint examiners.
MR. WATKINS: In addition to those items that you collected, you also collected clothing of Mr. Tsarnaev?
D.J. FIFE: I didn't collect it, but, yes, it was collected.
MR. WATKINS: You were present while it was being collected?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And Mr. Tsarnaev was actually undergoing medical procedures at the time. Is that correct?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: He was visibly quite injured?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And particularly in regard to the clothes, did you observe doctors cutting off or taking off the clothes?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And were those immediately collected by one of the team that was with you there?
D.J. FIFE: I believe what happened is that the doctor placed them into biohazard bags and then they were passed into the room next door, and in the room next door is where they were removed from the bags and where they were inventoried and the labels were written and the photographs were taken.
MR. WATKINS: And that was, again, something that you were present for?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: I want to show you --
MR. WATKINS: This is just for the witness.
MR. WATKINS: -- what's been marked Defendant's Exhibit 3058. Is that the jacket that -- or the sweatshirt that you saw being cut off of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and that was put into -- processed by your team?
D.J. FIFE: It wasn't processed, but it was collected, yes.
MR. WATKINS: And to your knowledge, where was that sweatshirt taken, or given after that?
D.J. FIFE: Where was it physically taken?
MR. WATKINS: Was it given to the Massachusetts State Police?
D.J. FIFE: I don't know the answer to that. I don't think so. I don't know. I thought it stayed in bureau possession.
MR. WATKINS: May I approach, your Honor?
MR. WATKINS: I'm placing before you what is identified as Defendant's Exhibit 3061. And can you read what the writing is on the front of that?
D.J. FIFE: It says -- it has the case ID number at the top, and then it says -- would you like me to read out the case ID?
MR. WATKINS: Please.
D.J. FIFE: 415MBS2814367. It just says "April 20th, 2013," and that was actually just after midnight so the date is both the 19th and the 20th on some of the evidence. It says "Adidas brand medium-sized black-hooded sweatshirt from person of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts." And then it has the name Christopher -- Special Agent Christopher Lord and Special Agent Alexia Crow, and they have initialed the packaging.
MR. WATKINS: And based on your experiences being in the -- were those two agents in the room with you?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Does the description on the bag match the photograph you're looking at?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Your Honor, I would ask to admit Exhibit 3058, which is the picture of the sweatshirt, and 3060, which is the sweatshirt itself.
MS. PELLEGRINI: 3060 or 3061?
THE COURT: You said 3061 earlier.
MR. WATKINS: I'm sorry. 3061.
MS. PELLEGRINI: No objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay.
(Defense Exhibit Nos. 3058 and 3061 received into evidence.)
MR. WATKINS: And may we publish the picture to the jury.
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: And again, Mr. Fife, given the description on that bag, this is the -- and your experiences in the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center observing the procedure, this is a picture of a sweatshirt that was taken off of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?
D.J. FIFE: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: That's all I have, your Honor.
MS. PELLEGRINI: No redirect, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, Mr. Fife. You may step down.
D.J. FIFE: Thank you.
(The witness is excused.)
MR. WEINREB: The United States calls Stephanie Waite.