Day 53 - April 27, 2015

The court addressed disputed mitigation evidence before the defense opening. The government waived objections to the Kartashov and Dolakov FBI interview reports but challenged Vakhabov's reports. Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. emphasized available live testimony and reliability, leaving the Vakhabov dispute unresolved. He permitted two ADX aerial photographs for the opening without expressly deciding the broader admissibility of evidence about special administrative measures. The government maintained that its incitement aggravator concerned past statements, not future dangerousness. The judge also denied the defense motion concerning duplicative aggravating factors and again reserved its Rule 29 motion. David I. Bruck asked the jury to impose life imprisonment without release or parole. He argued that Tamerlan led the crimes and strongly influenced Dzhokhar, while expressly rejecting claims that Dzhokhar was forced to participate or lacked behavioral control. Bruck previewed computer comparisons, family records, adolescent-development testimony, and confinement evidence. He also argued that video and anticipated wound evidence would provide context for the prosecution's jail-cell photograph. These were opening arguments and descriptions of expected evidence. Laith Albehacy, Loay Assaf, and Abderrazak Razak described encounters with Tamerlan, including mosque interruptions and objections to Thanksgiving turkey sales. Albehacy recalled Tamerlan denying knowledge of the bombing and, in response to a joking question, denying responsibility during a brief store visit. He declined to characterize Tamerlan's opposition to voting as extremist. All three witnesses said they had not met Dzhokhar before the trial testimony. Robert Barnes described Tamerlan's displays of strength and an argument involving chest-poking. On cross-examination, Barnes acknowledged that he did not know the brothers' relationship and that Tamerlan had not reacted violently to Barnes's own disagreement. Gerald R. Grant, Jr. authenticated email, YouTube, and phone records. The presentation included 21 selected emails from thousands of messages, including articles Tamerlan sent Dzhokhar about Sheikh Usamah Bin Laden. Grant identified a user-created playlist called "terrorists," bombing-related browsing entries, and a phone video admitted over a relevance objection. He had not analyzed call recipients or timing, had no evidence that Dzhokhar visited Tamerlan's YouTube site, and had not read a translation of one linked article. Judith Russell and Gina Crawford described Katherine's relationship with Tamerlan and changes in her religious discussions. Both qualified their knowledge; Crawford acknowledged Katherine's own interest in Islam, and Russell distinguished her relationship concerns from opposition to Islam. The court excluded a proposed secondhand domestic-abuse account as multilayer hearsay. Former teacher Robert Ponte described Tamerlan's classroom isolation and difficulty in jazz ensemble, limiting his observations to that setting and saying he did not suspect a physical altercation when Tamerlan challenged a concert warning.