10.Gillian Reny — Direct
226 lines(In open court:)
COURT CLERK: All rise for the jury.
(The jury enters the courtroom at 12:27 p.m.)
COURT CLERK: Be seated.
THE COURT: Mr. Chakravarty.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Thank you, your Honor. The government calls Gillian Reny.
GILLIAN RENY, 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 so everyone can hear you, okay?
GILLIAN RENY: Gillian Reny, R-E-N-Y.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Good afternoon. How old are you?
GILLIAN RENY: I'm 20 years old.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And where do you live?
GILLIAN RENY: I live in Boston, Massachusetts.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And are you in college?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, I'm a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And are you just back for the weekend, essentially?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah. I'm back for the weekend. My family ran the marathon yesterday.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Is that a family tradition?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes. My family has been running the marathon for years. Each of my parents have run five now, and my sister has run three.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Your sister Danielle?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, my sister Danielle.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you live with -- or before you went to college, did you live with all of them in Boston?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes, we all lived in Boston together.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So how long -- for how long has the Boston Marathon been a tradition in your family?
GILLIAN RENY: I mean, ever since I can remember. We live in downtown Boston so it's hard to not feel the excitement of the city on that day. Like I said, each of my parents have run it multiple times, and so we always would go -- I'd follow them along the course and ultimately end at the finish line, and then kind of meander back over to our house.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: About how many times do you think you've been to the marathon?
GILLIAN RENY: I'd say at least ten.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And for the 2013 Boston Marathon, did you attend that day?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes, I did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Who was running that day?
GILLIAN RENY: My older sister, Danielle, was running. It was her first marathon.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were your parents running?
GILLIAN RENY: No, my parents were not running. We were all following her along the course. We started in Natick, and then we went to my friend's house in Newton, and then we ended up at the finish line.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was this the first time that you had actually attended with both of your parents?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, it was the first time I'd been with both of my parents.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And who else from your family, aside from your parents, was attending?
GILLIAN RENY: My sister was running with a friend of hers from Harvard, so we were with her mother who had flown in from California; we were with -- my uncle was running as well. So we were with my grandmother and my sister's boyfriend, Kyle, as well as my cousins. However, in Newton we split up into two different cars. My aunt's family lives in the South End, so they went to the other side of Boylston, and we live in Beacon Hill, so we went to the opposite side. So I was standing with my mother, my father, my sister's boyfriend, my grandmother and my sister's friend's mother.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And who was on the side of Boylston Street?
GILLIAN RENY: Right across from us, we were actually kind of looking at each other, was my grandfather, my aunt, and her two young daughters.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And about what time did you arrive at the finish line area?
GILLIAN RENY: We arrived around 2:15, and we first saw my uncle cross, and then we were waiting for my sister.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you said that you're 20 now?
GILLIAN RENY: Yup.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How old were you on April 15, 2013?
GILLIAN RENY: I was 18. I was just finishing my senior year of high school.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Around what time did your Uncle Bill cross the finish line?
GILLIAN RENY: I think he finished around, maybe, 2:30, a little before then, maybe.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And how close were you to the finish line itself?
GILLIAN RENY: We were -- I remember because my mom had sent a text to my father and my sister's boyfriend who were parking the car, we were standing right out between Marathon Sports and LensCrafters.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And what was the atmosphere like?
GILLIAN RENY: I mean, it was so exciting. It was -- everyone was celebrating everyone crossing the finish line. We'd just seen my uncle. It was definitely really exciting to be there.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Around that time when your uncle crossed, how far away did you understand that your sister was from coming?
GILLIAN RENY: So she was close behind. I think she was around ten minutes. I remember we got a text from a friend who was further up Boylston shortly before the bombs went off saying that she had just passed them.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I'm going to call up Exhibit 1594, your Honor, which has just been admitted into evidence.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Ms. Reny, do you recognize these people over here?
GILLIAN RENY: Yup. That's my mother, and my father standing behind her.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. Can you just circle them by touching the screen?
GILLIAN RENY: (Witness complies.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And "Audrey" is your mother's name?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, "Audrey."
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And do you now know who these people are?
GILLIAN RENY: Yup. And the woman standing in front of them is Amanda North, who is my sister's friend's mother.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Okay. So Amanda was with you that morning?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And who are the people behind her?
GILLIAN RENY: That's Krystle Campbell and her friend Karen.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And is this where -- where were you in this picture, or are you in this picture?
GILLIAN RENY: I believe I was standing right behind my dad, but I'm a bit shorter than him so you can't see me.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Can we go to Exhibit 18, please.
Also in evidence, your Honor.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Now, this is a different angle. And again, do you see Krystle Campbell and Karen Rand/Karen McWatters?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Can you see any part of yourself in this picture?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, that's my hair right behind the man with the sunglasses, who is my sister's boyfriend.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I'm sorry. Go ahead and circle it.
GILLIAN RENY: Oh, sorry.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And the man behind you, that's --
GILLIAN RENY: Kyle, my sister's boyfriend.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And so is that where you were standing right before the bombs went off?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Thank you, Mr. Bruemmer.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What do you remember when the bombs went off?
GILLIAN RENY: Well, like I said, my -- we had just received a text that my sister was on Boylston and she was about to cross, so my dad actually just had turned on his video camera to get prepared at this point. We'd been standing there, like I said, since around 2:15, so we were towards the front, towards the fence. And I just remember, like, silence, like. I mean, I had no idea what was going on. It felt like I was in a movie, it was a joke. I had no idea what was going on. And there was like just a complete, utter, like, chilling silence and then just chaos. Chaos like I have never seen and would hope to never see ever again. I fell onto the ground. Luckily, I had been pushed by the force into my mom. And I looked down at my legs, and there was so much blood. My tibia had been completely snapped in half and was sticking out of my legs. Muscle was everywhere. It was the most horrifying image I could ever imagine. And to see that on my own body was terrifying. Luckily, I was with my mom, and shortly after my dad found us. He held on to my --
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Let me stop you there before we get to that. And there's some water in front of you, and also tissues if you want.
GILLIAN RENY: Thank you.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: After you were moved by the force of the blast, did you -- you said you couldn't hear anything. Could you smell anything?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah. It was very smokey, like just a burning smell everywhere. Intoxicating. It smelled awful. And the smoke had settled around. You -- it was very foggy, just very chaotic.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: You were just describing that you had looked down. Before you looked down, did you look around to see what happened?
GILLIAN RENY: Well, my leg was completely torn apart, so I remember almost for that little, like, silence, I just was sort of like in shock. And then I had nothing to stand on so I kind of -- my body crumbled to the ground but I -- I remember looking around and that there just seemed like bodies everywhere, blood everywhere. People who were coming over to help, screaming and crying, and just so -- distress amongst everyone.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you feel anything coming from the pavement?
GILLIAN RENY: It was really hot. It was -- I was wearing a fleece, and I remember at one point being so hot I sort of took it off, but I don't -- I didn't even realize how hurt I was until I felt the ground and looked down at my legs, or what was left of them.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What did you see when you looked at your legs?
GILLIAN RENY: My tibia was completely snapped in half. I had lost a large amount of bone and muscle. My lower leg on my right side was completely torn apart, and my left leg was also severely damaged. Just so much blood. It was horrifying to look down and see that that was your own body.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was there blood where you were?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, blood was pooling around where I was laying.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Could you tell whether it was your blood or somebody else's?
GILLIAN RENY: There was too much blood to know.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was it one leg or both legs?
GILLIAN RENY: It was both my legs, but my right was significantly worse off than my left.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Where was the injury on your leg?
GILLIAN RENY: It was in my lower -- beneath my knees, my right tibia. So lower -- like my shin area.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And on the other leg, on the left leg?
GILLIAN RENY: The same.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Could you see your left leg -- the muscle of your left leg? Excuse me.
GILLIAN RENY: Yes. The muscle of my left leg was like flapping over the -- my shredded jeans.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were you bleeding?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes, enormously. Looking down at the blood, I was shocked that that much blood could come out of someone. I felt so, like, weak, and I was terrified that I was going to die. I did not know that you could be that injured and survive. And I also was 100 percent certain that my right leg was gone entirely. It felt completely disconnected from my body. And the pain that I was experiencing was something that I wouldn't wish on anyone in a million years. It's difficult to explain because it's not like anything I've ever felt before.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did people come to help you?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah. Like I mentioned before, my grandfather was across the street, and when he saw -- I mean, we were looking at each other. And when he saw it go off, he sent my aunt and my cousins away and he ran across the street and he -- he held onto my left leg, and my father, who ended up finding us, held onto my right leg. And then after a little, a man came over and helped us as well. He was previously in the Army, so he took control. And he had my dad give -- take off his belt to tie and make a tourniquet, and he took off his belt as well to make a tourniquet on my other leg.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So you had tourniquets on both legs?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were your parents injured as well?
GILLIAN RENY: They were injured, but at the time I had no idea. And I'm so glad that I had no idea because I would have been worrying about them as well.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you lose consciousness while you were on Boylston Street?
GILLIAN RENY: No, unfortunately.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And the pain you felt, did that continue for as long as it took for you to get to the hospital?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah. I expected to pass out. I guess movies are not accurate in that sense. But I was then transported onto some sort of lifting board.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: A board to put you on -- before we get to that, I wanted to show you some more images from the scene and ask you if you recognize it.
GILLIAN RENY: (Nonverbal response.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I would ask to publish Exhibit 12, which is in evidence, your Honor.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you see yourself in this picture?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Would you please just circle yourself?
GILLIAN RENY: (Witness complies.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And who is that leaning over you?
GILLIAN RENY: That's my grandmother.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And do you see your mother in this picture as well?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Can you just circle her?
GILLIAN RENY: (Witness complies.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And were you standing right next to Krystle Campbell? You can see her as well?
GILLIAN RENY: (No verbal response.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Go to Exhibit 16, please.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And again, can you see your mother here?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And this is -- appears to be a short time later. And are you apparently behind the woman with the green jacket on in the foreground?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So when you fell, you said you crumbled. Did you try to move?
GILLIAN RENY: No, it hurt much too badly to move. I remember my father, when he came over to help, he took off his jacket, I think it was his jacket, and kind of was trying to preserve what was left of my leg off the sidewalk. And he moved it, obviously up, to try to get the jacket underneath, and it was excruciating pain, even worse than what I was feeling when I was just laying there. So after that, they were trying as best they could to keep me, like, as still as possible.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: When you were in that pain, did you scream?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you hear screaming around you?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did I show you a video from that day? Does that fairly and accurately portray both the audio as well as the video of what was happening around you?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: At this point I would request to publish Exhibit 11B, which was previously admitted.
MS. CLARKE: Subject to our previous objection.
THE COURT: Your objection is preserved.
(Video recording with audio played.)
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Is that you, Ms. Reny?
GILLIAN RENY: (Nonverbal response.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Your Honor, I have two photos just to show the witness.
1631, please.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: What's that?
GILLIAN RENY: That's me, and my mom holding me.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: 1632?
GILLIAN RENY: That's me and my mom as well.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I'd move 1631 and 1632 into evidence.
MS. CLARKE: Same objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: Can I see 1631 again? Do you need both of them?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: 1632.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Thank you.
THE COURT: 1631 will be excluded.
(Government Exhibit No. 1632 received into evidence.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Request to publish, your Honor.
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Ms. Reny, we saw on the photos that your mother was on one side of you. Is now she leaning right over on top of you?
GILLIAN RENY: (Nonverbal response.)
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How quickly were you transported from the scene?
GILLIAN RENY: I've been told that I was one of the first.
MS. CLARKE: Objection.
THE COURT: Why don't you start again.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I'll revisit.
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were you transported from the scene?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Was it shortly after what the photos depict?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes; I was towards the front.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were you closest to the fence line?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes, I was almost in the front.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: You were starting to say before I interrupted with the pictures that you were placed on a board. Can you explain what happened?
GILLIAN RENY: Shortly after, I was placed on a board to transport me into the ambulance. And so once they had put me on the board, they put me in an ambulance with another person who had been seriously injured, and my parents came in as well.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you went to the hospital?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, I was transported to Brigham and Women's.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Were you -- did you have the same concerns that you had when you were out on Boylston Street once you made it to the hospital?
MS. CLARKE: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
You may answer.
GILLIAN RENY: As I was being transported to the hospital, I was still extremely nervous about my outcome. I was feeling more hopeful that I was going to make it, but I had lost pretty much all about my leg being salvaged. But getting to the hospital was definitely -- I did feel some more security.
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did you undergo several surgeries in the hospital?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, I was in the emergency room and then immediately transported to an initial surgery, and then I was placed under a medical-induced coma for a few days while they figured out a treatment plan. And then a few days later I went -- I underwent a surgery that -- they had first planned on doing a series of surgeries over the next few weeks, but because I was young and the risk of infection --
MS. CLARKE: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
GILLIAN RENY: -- was so high, they were able to do one extremely long surgery and accomplish pretty much most of what they wanted to do.
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: In addition to the risk of infection, was there another concern that the doctors had about the complications?
MS. CLARKE: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
GILLIAN RENY: They were able to salvage my leg but they were unclear as to its function and whether it would be successful for weeks, and actually months after.
BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And just in lay terms, what is limb salvage?
GILLIAN RENY: Basically, instead of amputating, they -- I had one vein that was a major connecting vein between my foot and the rest of my leg that was miraculously intact, so because of that they went and tried to go down the road of saving my whole leg, which is sort of, like, limb salvage.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How much flesh was connecting the lower part of your leg to the top part of your leg?
GILLIAN RENY: Hardly any. My bone was entirely exposed, and I had lost a lot of bone as well. So in order to repair, they had to take sections of my abdomen to use to cover my leg and use as a makeshift -- non-functioning but makeshift muscle.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did they put a blood filter in you as well?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah, they put a in filter because the risk of blood clotting was extremely high.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Did they harvest tissue from various parts of your body for those procedures?
GILLIAN RENY: Yeah. Like I said, my abdomen, as well as skin, because I had lost enormous amounts of skin on both my left and right legs.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: From your observations over the -- both your time on Boylston Street as well as in the hospital, did you understand what happened, the mechanism of your injury, how you got hurt?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes. If you look at my legs, a piece of the bomb went straight through. So while it mostly hit my right leg, which is what broke it, it did hit the left as well. So it just kind of went straight through. And that's what I was told.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: How long were you in the hospital?
GILLIAN RENY: Six weeks.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Do you still have chunks of your leg that are missing?
GILLIAN RENY: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Thank you.
THE COURT: Okay?
MS. CLARKE: Thank you very much. No questions.
THE COURT: All right, Ms. Reny. Thank you. You may step down.
We'll take the lunch recess at this stage.
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury. The Court will take the luncheon recess.
(The Court and jury exit the courtroom and there is a recess in the proceedings at 12:56 p.m.)
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury.
(The Court and jury enter the courtroom at 2:08 p.m.)
COURT CLERK: Be seated.
THE COURT: Ms. Pellegrini.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Thank you, your Honor. The United States calls William Campbell III.