7.Adrianna Haslet-Davis — Direct
195 linesADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS, duly sworn
COURT CLERK: State your name, spell your last name for the record, keep your voice up and speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: My name is Adrianna Haslet-Davis. Last name Haslet, H-A-S-L-E-T, hyphen, Davis, D-A-V-I-S.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Good morning, Ms. Haslet-Davis.
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Good morning.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Can you tell the jury where you currently reside, the city or town?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes. My husband and I live in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And your husband is who?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Adam Davis.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And how long have you and Adam been married?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: We have been married just -- we just celebrated our six-year wedding anniversary.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And can I ask you how old you are?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I am 34.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And, Ms. Haslet-Davis, I would like to direct your attention to Marathon Monday of 2013. With Adam did you happen to attend the Boston Marathon?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes, I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, I know it's going to sound like an odd question. Do you remember what shoes you were wearing that day?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I do.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And why do you remember what shoes you were wearing?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I was trying to look cute for my husband so I was wearing platform shoes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did they have a very high heel?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: They did. I would guess it would be about four and a half inches.
MS. PELLEGRINI: So later on in the afternoon, around 2:30, 2:45, did wearing those heels cause you to consider what plans you were going to be making, where you were going to go with respect to the marathon?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: That is correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And so what did you decide to do?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: We decided to take one more walk around the block to watch the runners.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what block was that?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: We were going to walk down Boylston Street to watch the runners and then go home because my feet were sore.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And as you were walking down Boylston Street, do you recall approaching the Forum restaurant?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did not know it was the Forum at the time, but I do now know it was the Forum. We were so in love and just happy together that we -- I didn't realize even where we were. But, yes, I do know now that it was the Forum.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And as you were walking down the street -- this is later on in the afternoon, about 2:45 or so, 2:49 -- what do you recall happening?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I remember hearing a very loud bomb go off behind us, and I remember grabbing ahold of my husband and saying, "The next one's going to go, the next one's going to go."
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, when you say looking behind you, so were you walking away from the finish line?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: We were walking away from the finish line.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And when you said you heard something, what did you hear exactly?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I heard an extremely loud explosion and I did not think that it was a firework or anything else. I knew right off the bat that it was a terrorist attack, and I don't have any answer to why I knew that. I just was bracing for impact.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what did you do when that happened?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I wrapped my arms around my husband and said, "The next one's going to hit. The next one's going to hit," and I believe I was just curling myself into him.
MS. PELLEGRINI: May I have Exhibit 21-03 already in evidence, your Honor.
THE COURT: Already in evidence?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Yes, your Honor.
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Ms. Haslet-Davis, do you see the photograph on the screen in front of you?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I do.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And I'll enlarge this part right here. Do you see yourself and your husband Adam in this photo?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I do.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Your screen is interactive. You can draw a circle around it with the pad of your finger. Could you tell the jury where you and Adam are in this photograph?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes. Would you like me to circle it?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Yes, please.
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: (Witness complies.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: So you're both sort of -- you circled a young woman with blonde hair, a young man with blonde hair behind you. You both seem to be wearing white jackets, is that correct, or something along those lines?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes, that's correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And you're looking now down towards the finish line, correct?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: That is correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what are you doing with your hands?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I believe I was covering my mouth out of disbelief, shock, unknown.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Could you see anything as you were looking in that direction?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes; I saw a lot of smoke and I heard screams.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And you said you talked to your husband. What's the next thing that you recall happening?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I remember him saying, "No, no, babe, no," and all of a sudden I opened my eyes and I was on the ground.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Do you know what happened?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Another bomb went off.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, when you opened your eyes and you were on the ground, what did you see?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I was, for lack of a better term, little spooned to my husband, and his back was turned toward me. I saw the back of his head and I opened my eyes and I screamed, "Adam," and I couldn't hear myself scream. I...
(Pause.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: Adrianna, there's some tissues and some water to your side.
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I thought that because I couldn't hear myself scream that I was dead, and I screamed it again and I saw his head turn, and I thought that maybe he was alive. And the next thing I remember, he had turned his body toward me and he sat up onto his -- he sat up onto his rear end, and I couldn't move more than my shoulders.
MS. PELLEGRINI: But did you try to move?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And how did you try to move?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I tried to sit up.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Could you do so?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Did you look at your body to see why you couldn't move, why you couldn't sit up?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I looked down, but because I could only move my shoulders I couldn't see much more than my waist down at that moment before my husband lifted up my leg.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you feel?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I had a few seconds or minutes, the time is difficult to tell, where I felt nothing, and then I heard my husband scream a scream that was earth-shattering and I'd never heard before, and I looked down and I could see blood everywhere. And I somehow got my hands behind me and leaning toward onto his body, and I could see, with him lifting it in the air, that it was completely covered in blood.
MS. PELLEGRINI: When you say "it," what --
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: My left leg. My left foot.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what did you do after you saw that?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: He didn't stop screaming. And my first thought was he's in shock and I have to save myself, and so I turned and somehow got my body over onto my stomach and crawled with my arms, my forearms, and -- along the broken glass, and shredding open my forearms, as I drug myself.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, in addition to the broken glass, did you have any other sensation? What could you feel from the sidewalk, from that area as you crawled along?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I could feel the broken glass and I could feel the parts of my -- top of my foot and the bottom of my foot changing and hitting and dragging across the sidewalk.
MS. PELLEGRINI: May I have 21-18 for the witness and counsel only, your Honor.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Ms. Haslet-Davis, on the screen before you is an image. Do you recognize this?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes, I remember -- I remember that moment.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And, in fact, is this you and Adam and does this fairly and accurately represent the scene as you recall in the minutes after the blast?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Your Honor, the government would offer 21-18 and ask that it be published.
MR. BRUCK: As previously noted.
THE COURT: All right. Okay. The objection is overruled. It may be admitted and it is displayed.
(Government Exhibit No. 21-18 received into evidence.)
BY MS. PELLEGRINI:
MS. PELLEGRINI: Ms. Haslet-Davis, let me enlarge this portion here. Can you tell the jury what we're looking at here?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: This is my husband in the white hooded sweatshirt that is bent over my leg, what's left of it, and my body laying down on the sidewalk.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And in this position, is this how you crawled into the Forum?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes, a little -- a little -- I think I was a little bit more this way right after the foot. I was taken more on my stomach, but yes.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did you, in fact, make it into the Forum restaurant?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And what happened there?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: As soon as I made it toward the entrance of the Forum, I was grabbed by my vest by someone and dragged to the bottom of the stairs.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Ms. Davis, I'd like to ask you to go back just a minute to before you got into the Forum restaurant. I asked you before when the first explosion happened if you turned and you saw anything, and after the second explosion happened, did you have an opportunity to look around you and see anything else other than you and Adam?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I saw a lot of people. I saw just a ton of people just in shock.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And could you smell anything?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I could smell lots of smoke. I could smell lots of smoke and I could smell the kind of smoke that I've never smelled before. And that was another contributing factor that I knew something was very wrong.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, as you crawled along and got into the Forum, what was happening with your leg and your foot? Could you ever stand?
MS. PELLEGRINI: And did you get -- you actually got into the Forum?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: All right. And what happened in there?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: When I was laid down at the bottom of the stairs in the Forum from my vest, I laid there and a bunch of people came toward me and were trying to hold my hands and trying to help me.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, did Adam stay as close to you as he is in this photo, 21-18, when you got into the Forum or did you separate at that point?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: At that point we separated. And he came walking in and -- after me, and then collapsed on the stairs right next to me.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what happened while you were in there?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: We cried. And I was in a lot of pain. And I thought that that was it. And I thought that there were more bombs going off and I didn't -- I didn't think anybody would come to save us because I thought there were too many more people injured.
MS. PELLEGRINI: When you say you thought that was it, what do you mean?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I thought I was going to die.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Did someone come to your aid?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Do you today, as you sit here, know who that person was?
MS. PELLEGRINI: And who was that?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I now know him to be Dr. James.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what did he do?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Well, Adam had applied the first tourniquet, and then the doctor came later on and said that he was a doctor and at that point had checked out my tourniquets and made sure that they were tight.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Were you able to observe your own leg at this time and your foot?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I was.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you see?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I saw all five of my toes but I saw a lot of blood and I didn't see any ankle.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What about your shoes?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I only had one shoe on, as you can see in this photo.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Do you know how long you stayed at the Forum before you left the Forum?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I don't know the exact time but it felt like a year.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what was it like for you while you waited?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I begged for whiskey because I just wanted the pain to go away.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And were you eventually removed from the Forum and taken to a hospital?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: Yes. I only begged for the whiskey when I thought I was going to die.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you think about Adam? What were your thoughts about Adam at that time?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: He just kept saying how sorry he was. He -- that was all that he could say. And that he loved me. He was so sorry. And that -- I remember people telling him that he needed tourniquets also and that he should not have walked. And I looked down and someone took off his shoe and his artery was spurting out blood as he was laying there, and his face kept getting whiter and whiter and his speech got slower and slower.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Did you make any other observations of his face?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What were they?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: His eyes started rolling back into the back of his head.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you think was happening to Adam at that time?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I thought he was dying.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Adrianna, did there come a time when you and Adam left the Forum?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: There did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Were you able to leave together?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Who went first?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Do you know where you went?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I went out into the street. I was onto a board. I was put onto a board by either all firemen or policemen. And I was put onto a board and laid down on the street before being put into an ambulance.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And Adam didn't go with you in that ambulance. Is that correct?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: No. I thought he was dead in the Forum.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What hospital did you go to?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I went to Boston Medical Center.
MS. PELLEGRINI: What happened when you got there?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I just kept screaming that I was a ballroom dancer. And they kept giving me pain medication. And I had felt a buzz going off on my upper right-hand shoulder. And I still had my vest on, and they started cutting my clothes off to see my injuries, and I reached over and I grabbed the buzz on my shoulder and I realized it was my cell phone.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Who was calling?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I don't remember who was calling but I knew exactly who I wanted to call.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Who was that?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: My parents.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Did you call your parents?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: (Nonverbal response.)
MS. PELLEGRINI: What did you tell them about yourself?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: They live in Seattle, and I just kept thinking how awful it would have been to get that call. And I told them that I was in a terrorist attack, because that's what I thought at the time, and I told them that I needed to talk to them. My father answered, and I said, "I've been in a terrorist attack and I don't think I have a left foot anymore. And I'm in really bad shape and I really need to talk to you because this might be it. Where are you?" And they said, "We were driving down the freeway." And I said, "You need to pull over." And my dad said, "It's illegal to pull over on the freeway."
(Laughter.)
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: And I said. "I don't care if it's illegal. This may be our last words. I need to talk to my mother." And he said, "She's driving." So they pulled over.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Did you tell him about Adam?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I did.
MS. PELLEGRINI: At that time what did you tell them about Adam?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I said, "I've been in a terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon" and Adam was dead and this might be it for me; that I need you to call his parents because I can't tell them the news.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Adrianna, later on you did, in fact, lose your left foot. Is that correct?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: That's correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And when you walked in today, you're wearing pants?
MS. PELLEGRINI: So the jury cannot see that you are using a prosthetic device. Is that correct?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: That is correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what -- what is the nature of the injury to the left leg and the foot?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I lost my left leg below the knee.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And Adam's injuries, do you now know what injuries he suffered?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: I do know what injuries he suffered.
MS. PELLEGRINI: And what were those?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: He has suffered tendinitis [sic], which resulted in constant ringing in his ears on -- or in one ear -- excuse me -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week; he has a blown artery in his left foot; he has ice cream scoops out of most -- what look like ice cream scoops out of most of his calves and -- out of both calves; and he also has -- the artery that was blown in his left foot he got a skin graft on, and we're on his second surgery to repair the donor nerve that we received the first time. And we're on a waiting period to see if that will be saved.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Now, Adam's not here with you today, correct?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: That's correct.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Why is that?
ADRIANNA HASLET-DAVIS: He has bravely admitted himself into a mental facility at the VA Hospital.
MS. PELLEGRINI: I have no further questions for Miss Haslet-Davis.
MR. BRUCK: Thank you, Miss Haslet-Davis. We have no questions.
THE COURT: You may step down. Thank you.
(The witness is excused.)
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor, may we approach before the next witness?
THE COURT: All right.