Matthew Riportella — Direct - Day 38 - 2015 Federal Trial

Levitt completed testimony on extremist literature and the limits of his analysis. Witnesses described Watertown ballistics, fingerprints, scene mapping and the SUV's departure, followed by university and dorm-room evidence. The court restricted inquiry into Officer Donohue's injury and required facial masking for some autopsy photographs.

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Matthew Riportella — Direct Examination

DirectDirectMatthew Riportella — Direct Examination

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA, duly sworn

COURT CLERK: Have a seat. State your name, spell your last name for the record, keep your voice up and speak into the mic.

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Matthew Riportella, R-I-P-O-R-T-E-L-L-A.

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. WEINREB:

MR. WEINREB: Good afternoon.

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Good afternoon.

MR. WEINREB: Where do you work?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: At the FBI in Boston.

MR. WEINREB: How long have you worked there?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Approximately two and a half years.

MR. WEINREB: What's your current assignment there?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I'm on the FBI Boston Organized Crime Task Force.

MR. WEINREB: What kind of training have you received as an FBI agent?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I had 21 weeks of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico.

MR. WEINREB: Despite being assigned to the organized crime unit at the FBI, did you participate in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation in the weeks after it occurred?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I did.

MR. WEINREB: And in the course of that investigation, on April 24th of 2013, did you go to the Manchester firing range in New Hampshire to obtain some records?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I did, but on a different date. April 23rd.

MR. WEINREB: I'm sorry. April 23rd. And what is the Manchester firing range?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: It is a gun supply store as well as a firing range that's open to the public that they can practice their firearm skills.

MR. WEINREB: What does that mean? What's a firing range?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: A range where you can go and have a target, and you can shoot a gun at a target.

MR. WEINREB: Do you have to bring your own gun?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: No, you do not; you can rent guns.

MR. WEINREB: Do they have a variety of guns that you can rent?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, I believe they do.

MR. WEINREB: Do you have to bring your own ammo?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: No.

MR. WEINREB: How do you shoot if you don't have ammo?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: You can buy ammo from the place as well.

MR. WEINREB: And do they have the ammo necessary for the variety of guns that they rent out?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: When you got to the Manchester firing range, did you talk to the owner?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I did.

MR. WEINREB: What was his name?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Jim McCloud.

MR. WEINREB: What, if anything, did you ask him to do?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I asked him if we could have permission to look through video and paperwork that he had related to Dzhokhar and/or Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

MR. WEINREB: And in response to that, did he give you some records?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: He did.

MR. WEINREB: Mr. Bruemmer --

MR. WEINREB: Did you review those records in my office the other day?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, I did.

MR. WEINREB: Did you also ask Mr. McCloud if there was surveillance video?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I did.

MR. WEINREB: For that date and time?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: And as a result of that request, did you obtain some video?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, I did.

MR. WEINREB: Did you also review that video in my office the other day?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, I did.

MR. WEINREB: So the records are Exhibit 1164 and the video is Exhibit 1165. Were the records that you obtained, fair and accurate copy -- the ones you viewed, were they fair and accurate copies of the records that you obtained that day?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, they were.

MR. WEINREB: And the video that you viewed, is that a fair and accurate excerpt of the surveillance camera video that you obtained that day?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, it was.

MR. WEINREB: The government offers 1164 and 1165.

MR. WATKINS: No objection.

THE COURT: Okay.

(Government Exhibit Nos. 1164 and 1165 received into evidence.)

MR. WEINREB: Can we have 1164 on the screen, please.

BY MR. WEINREB:

MR. WEINREB: Do you see that?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: I'm just going to wait for it to come up on the big screen. So is this one of the records you received?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, it is.

MR. WEINREB: I'm going to enlarge the top portion of it. Actually, this is a record, and stapled to the front there appears to be a receipt?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: All right.

MR. WEINREB: Can we have the next page of that exhibit, please?

MR. WEINREB: So is this the same record but without the receipt on top?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, that's correct.

MR. WEINREB: Let me -- so what does it say up here at the very top? What kind of document is this?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: This is the check-in card.

MR. WEINREB: And who's the customer?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

MR. WEINREB: Does it give an address for him?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: 410 Norfolk Street, Number 3, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

MR. WEINREB: And does it give a date of birth?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Dated 7/22/93.

MR. WEINREB: Phone number?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: (857) 247-5112.

MR. WEINREB: So over here next to "firearm," what's the description that's given here?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: A Glock 17.

MR. WEINREB: And what's the next one?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: The second one I originally thought said Glock 39, but now I actually believe it's a Glock 34. That's a four, not a nine.

MR. WEINREB: Are you familiar with what is the caliber of those two weapons?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I am.

MR. WEINREB: What are they?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: 9 mm.

MR. WEINREB: Does this indicate the rental of two 9 mm weapons?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: And what's next to the word "ammunition"? What's indicated here?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: 9 mm.

MR. WEINREB: And what do these marks mean?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Four dashes, which I was told meant four boxes of 9 mm ammo.

MR. WEINREB: Do you see the boxes that say "in" and "out"?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

MR. WEINREB: What do they indicate?

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: The time in the range and then the time out of the range.

100

MR. WEINREB: So roughly an hour?

101

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Roughly an hour, yes.

102

MR. WEINREB: The grand total cost for renting these two weapons and buying the four boxes of ammunition?

103

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: $170.75.

104

MR. WEINREB: Can we have the next page?

105

MR. WEINREB: So this actually --

106

MR. WEINREB: I'm sorry, can you go back to the...

107

MR. WEINREB: So this says "firearms experience," "range safety" and "release"?

108

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

109

MR. WEINREB: And here, the person is asked to check certain boxes?

110

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: That's correct.

111

MR. WEINREB: Okay. What did Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say his experience was with a handgun?

112

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Intermediate.

113

MR. WEINREB: And in response to the question of whether he had a history of mental illness, what did he say?

114

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: No.

115

MR. WEINREB: And when he was asked if he was a user or addicted to marijuana or any other drug, what did he say?

116

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: No.

117

MR. WEINREB: And that's dated and then there's a signature?

118

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: That's correct.

119

MR. WEINREB: Can we have the next page.

120

MR. WEINREB: Is this the same kind of check-in card we saw before?

121

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

122

MR. WEINREB: And it gives the name of Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

123

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: That's correct.

124

MR. WEINREB: And the same address?

125

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: That's correct.

126

MR. WEINREB: And what's the phone number given?

127

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: (857) 928-4634.

128

MR. WEINREB: But he didn't rent or buy anything or pay for anything?

129

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Based off of that, no.

130

MR. WEINREB: Can we have the next page, please?

131

MR. WEINREB: So when it came to his experience with a handgun, what did he say?

132

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: That he was an intermediate.

133

MR. WEINREB: The same as his brother?

134

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Correct.

135

MR. WEINREB: And when asked whether he had any history of mental illness, he also said no?

136

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: That's correct.

137

MR. WEINREB: Can we now have Exhibit 1165, please.

138

MR. WEINREB: Do you recognize what's in this frame that I've frozen here?

139

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I do.

140

MR. WEINREB: What is it?

141

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: It's part of the security video that we obtained from the Manchester firing range.

142

MR. WEINREB: You actually went there?

143

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I did.

144

MR. WEINREB: So is this what you see outside the door of the Manchester firing range?

145

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

146

(Video played.)

147

MR. WEINREB: Is that the door?

148

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes.

149

MR. WEINREB: This indicates March 20th at -- it's clipped off the right-hand side of the screen, but a time around two o'clock. Is that during the -- is that at one end of the period when the receipt indicated that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother had been in the range practicing?

150

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Yes, shortly after.

151

MR. WEINREB: All right. I'm going to finish running it at this size and then I think we're going to make it smaller and I'll run it again. There we go.

152

(Video played.)

153

MR. WEINREB: Have you seen those two individuals before, or images of them before?

154

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: I've seen images of them before.

155

MR. WEINREB: Okay. And who's the one on the left?

156

MATTHEW RIPORTELLA: Would be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

157

MR. WEINREB: And the one on the right?