14.Alexa Guevara — Direct
348 lines(Discussion at sidebar and out of the hearing of the jury:)
MR. BRUCK: Your Honor, we think when this question is framed in terms of "Based on the person you knew, what was your reaction," that is just a common parlance way of conveying the person's perception of character and laying it against the facts -- different sorts of facts that obviously have come out. It's a colloquial way of speaking that elicits a very revealing answer.
And so long as it's -- we haven't always done this, and I understand the rule, and it's not prefaced this way, but when the question is elicited as -- is framed as "Based on what you knew, based on the person you knew, based on the character, everything we've talked about, what was your response" -- we think when it's asked that way, it really --
THE COURT: I think there are ways of getting closer to it than the question that was asked could do -- well, a proper question to get to it, but just asking for a raw opinion I think is beyond the bounds.
MR. BRUCK: It's not the opinion.
THE COURT: It is.
MR. BRUCK: It's the reaction in the moment based on --
MR. WEINREB: I think this is part of the problem, your Honor, which is that although character evidence is admissible, this kind of open-ended question invites all sorts of different kinds of answers, some of which could be relevant but many of which could be completely irrelevant, and that's why it's not a good question.
THE COURT: Anyway, I understand the proposition, and I think --
MS. CONRAD: I have some cases I'd like to cite.
THE COURT: Fine. Give them to me and I'll look at them.
MS. CONRAD: And also, I just -- you know, I think Mr. Weinreb has an objection to the open form since we've gotten a lot of objections to the leading. If there's a suggestion as to leading only, as in, "Were you surprised?" or "Were you shocked?"
THE COURT: I'll take it by the question. The witness's objective observations is one thing; opinions are an opportunity to simply opine, I guess, to the jury about --
MR. WEINREB: We're asking for their own reactions, as opposed to what the defendant is like, based on what they've seen and heard.
MR. BRUCK: The problem is that character is the very core of what is at issue at this stage and how people felt is an opinion or evaluation of character. So I guess if the Court has a way that we are groping towards and not quite reaching that would do it, I'm all ears. We just aren't quite sure.
MR. WEINREB: Your Honor --
THE COURT: I think you have -- I can't give you the question, but I think you --
MR. MELLIN: I'll be happy to tell you. "What did you think of his character?" instead of trying to tie it to an event.
MS. CONRAD: That's the point of these cases, is they talk about, you know, "That's not the person I knew that would do something like that," and that's what we're getting at.
MR. MELLIN: That's not permissible.
MS. CONRAD: Well, according to those cases, it is.
THE COURT: Thank you.
(In open court:)
MS. CONRAD: I think I called Alexa Guevara.
ALEXA GUEVARA, duly sworn
COURT CLERK: Have a seat. State your name, spell your last -- first and last name for the record, keep your voice up and be sure to speak into the mic so everyone can hear you.
ALEXA GUEVARA: Okay. My name is Alexa Guevara, A-L-E-X-A, G-U-E-V-A-R-A.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: Good afternoon, Ms. Guevara.
ALEXA GUEVARA: Hi.
MS. CONRAD: How old are you?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I'm 21.
MS. CONRAD: And where did you go to school?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School.
MS. CONRAD: And when did you graduate?
ALEXA GUEVARA: In 2012.
MS. CONRAD: So did you know Jahar Tsarnaev in high school?
ALEXA GUEVARA: In passing.
MS. CONRAD: And was he the same year as you?
ALEXA GUEVARA: No, he was a year above me.
MS. CONRAD: And do you also have an older sister who went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And what's her name?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Her name is Pamala Rolon.
MS. CONRAD: Could you spell that, please?
ALEXA GUEVARA: P-A-M-A-L-A, R-O-L-O-N.
MS. CONRAD: And when did she graduate?
ALEXA GUEVARA: She graduated from Rindge in 2008.
MS. CONRAD: After you graduated from Rindge, did you go to college?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Where did you go?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I went to UMass Dartmouth.
MS. CONRAD: And what year did you start in UMass Dartmouth?
ALEXA GUEVARA: 2012.
MS. CONRAD: And when you were at UMass Dartmouth, did you get to know Mr. Tsarnaev a little better?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And do you see him in the courtroom today?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I do.
MS. CONRAD: And where do you see him?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Sitting right in front of me.
MS. CONRAD: And how did you get to know Jahar better at college?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Well, I was introduced to Jahar by Tiarrah Dottin.
MS. CONRAD: And are you a friend of Tiarrah's?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes. We're really good friends.
MS. CONRAD: From high school?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And how long have you been friends with Tiarrah?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Probably since my junior year in high school.
MS. CONRAD: And did you spend time with Jahar along with another group of friends?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I did.
MS. CONRAD: Who were the other friends that you tended to be with?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I tended to be with Azamat and Dias.
MS. CONRAD: And that's Azamat, A-Z-A-M-A-T?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And Dias, D-I-A-S?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And how did you get to know Azamat and Dias?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I was introduced to them by my sister.
MS. CONRAD: And that's Pamala?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And what kinds of things would you do together?
ALEXA GUEVARA: We hung out at our other friend's apartment sometimes. We watched TV, watched the boys play FIFA at Dias's apartment.
MS. CONRAD: Let me stop you right there. What's FIFA?
ALEXA GUEVARA: FIFA is a video game that -- it's like a soccer video game, I guess.
MS. CONRAD: And is that something that you would play or just the boys?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Just the boys.
MS. CONRAD: And who else would be there when you were over at Dias' and Azamat's apartment?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I'm sorry. What was --
MS. CONRAD: When you were at Dias' and Azamat's apartment, who else would be there?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Well, me, Pamala and Tiff sometimes, and Jahar.
MS. CONRAD: And "Tiff," is that Tiffany?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: What other things would you do? Would you go out to eat?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah. Not as often, really. We'd usually order food, if anything.
MS. CONRAD: And was there a particular type of food that Jahar liked to order?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Domino's.
MS. CONRAD: Domino's Pizza?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Anything in particular he liked to order from Domino's Pizza?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I've seen him get cheesy bread, and he likes lava cakes.
MS. CONRAD: What's lava cakes?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Chocolate lava cakes that they have at Domino's. They're just little small chocolate cakes.
MS. CONRAD: And if he had food, would he just get food for himself?
ALEXA GUEVARA: No, he'd always offer it before he ordered.
MS. CONRAD: To share?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: What was he like when you knew him in 2012? This would be the 2012-2013 school year.
ALEXA GUEVARA: It was good. I always knew I was going to have a good time if I was hanging out with Jahar.
MS. CONRAD: And what was his personality like?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Very approachable, very kind, very accepting of whatever anyone had to say.
MS. CONRAD: There's tissues next to you and water if you need it. Okay?
ALEXA GUEVARA: (Nonverbal response.)
MS. CONRAD: How did he make you feel when you spent time with him?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Really happy. I felt at ease, like I could relax and not take whatever I'm saying so seriously.
MS. CONRAD: Now, you said that he was open, I think. I don't know if that was your word, but, you know, approachable. Did you ever see him fight with anybody?
MS. CONRAD: Did you ever hear him argue with anybody?
ALEXA GUEVARA: A couple of times.
MS. CONRAD: Tell us about that. What kinds of things would he argue about?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Who's the best rapper.
MS. CONRAD: And who would he argue with?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Dias.
MS. CONRAD: And what was that like?
ALEXA GUEVARA: It was pretty funny to watch.
MS. CONRAD: Why? Just give us an example.
ALEXA GUEVARA: An example of?
MS. CONRAD: Of what the argument would be like. Who would say, you know, what kinds of things and --
ALEXA GUEVARA: Well, I know that Jahar really liked Kendrick Lamar. I think the only people that they could agree on that they both really liked was Kid Cudi.
MS. CONRAD: And, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to explain this for some of us. Who's Kendrick Lamar?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He's a pretty -- relatively new rapper to...
MS. CONRAD: And how would Dias and Jahar resolve their differences about their opinions about Kendrick Lamar?
ALEXA GUEVARA: They would be like, "Oh, well, you have your opinion; I have mine. I guess we'll just leave it at that."
MS. CONRAD: And would there be hard feelings?
ALEXA GUEVARA: No, they were laughing like in five minutes.
MS. CONRAD: And did you ever hear him talk about politics?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Not really.
MS. CONRAD: Religion?
ALEXA GUEVARA: It was brought up that he was Muslim. It was a question directed toward him, Aza and Dias, but besides knowing that, no.
MS. CONRAD: Do you know what religion Dias and Aza were?
ALEXA GUEVARA: They were also Muslim.
MS. CONRAD: As far as you could tell, were they very observant?
MS. CONRAD: In fact, was there some partying that went on among this group?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And what did the partying consist of?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Usually it consisted of meeting at Tiff's apartment or Dias's and having drinks and perhaps smoking as well.
MS. CONRAD: Smoking what?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Marijuana.
MS. CONRAD: Okay. I'm just going to ask you to pull the microphone a little closer and maybe keep your voice up a little more so we can all hear you. Okay? What was he like compared to other boys that you knew at UMass Dartmouth?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Way more respectful.
MS. CONRAD: Respectful toward whom?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Toward me or my friends, females in general.
MS. CONRAD: So how would you -- how would that come out?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I mean, he just -- like he could be flirtatious at some points, but never in a way that would make you feel uncomfortable or like -- he just knew when to stop, just -- I don't know. Sorry.
MS. CONRAD: It's okay. Take a moment and help yourself to the tissues. Now, was he someone who was the center of attention?
MS. CONRAD: Was he loud?
MS. CONRAD: What kind of -- did he stick with one particular group of friends?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He was kind of more of a floater.
MS. CONRAD: What do you mean?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He had friends in a lot of different cliques and groups.
MS. CONRAD: Was he into cars?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Tell us about that.
ALEXA GUEVARA: He likes fast cars.
MS. CONRAD: And did any of this group have a particular car?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Dias and Aza bought a BMW, but another friend, Sogger (ph), had a pretty nice Camaro as well.
MS. CONRAD: What about Jahar's car? What was his car like?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Typical college start-up car, not the fastest.
MS. CONRAD: In fact, were there a lot of times when he didn't have it?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: Where would it be?
ALEXA GUEVARA: In the shop.
MS. CONRAD: When he did have it, did he offer to give people rides?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: Did you have a particular activity online that you and Jahar liked to do?
ALEXA GUEVARA: There was an app that we had, an online game, Ruzzle.
MS. CONRAD: Is that R-U-Z-Z-L-E?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And what is Ruzzle?
ALEXA GUEVARA: It's been compared to Words with Friends, but it's kind of like a time -- it's like Scrabble but with a time limit.
MS. CONRAD: How often would you play Ruzzle with Jahar?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Once we started, it was like every day between classes, at night, all the time.
MS. CONRAD: And while you were playing, were you able to communicate with each other?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: So tell us how that works.
ALEXA GUEVARA: Ruzzle has a feature to it that is kind of like texting, then you can send messages back and forth.
MS. CONRAD: So would you at the same time you were playing be sort of having a conversation?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah, sometimes.
MS. CONRAD: Who was better?
MS. CONRAD: Didn't sound like there was much hesitation about that.
ALEXA GUEVARA: Well, I beat him plenty of times.
MS. CONRAD: Was he a sore loser?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I don't know if I would say "sore loser," but he would chalk it up to not really trying so hard.
MS. CONRAD: So he tried to play it off a little?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: What kinds of things would you talk about when you spent time together?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Just things that we liked, things that we liked to do, things that we were planning to do not too far ahead in the future.
MS. CONRAD: Did you ever talk about what you planned to do maybe the next school year?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He did a little bit.
MS. CONRAD: What did he say?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Objection.
THE COURT: No, overruled.
BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: What did he say?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I'm sorry.
MS. CONRAD: Take your time.
ALEXA GUEVARA: That he wanted to transfer to UMass Amherst.
MS. CONRAD: Did he say why?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I remember him telling me that he wanted to study marine biology.
MS. CONRAD: And did he ever talk to you about maybe some further studies or fields that you should pursue?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah, he encouraged me to go to art school.
MS. CONRAD: How did that come about?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He and Dias saw me sketching one day, and I let them look at some of my sketches, and they thought they were really good.
MS. CONRAD: So what did Jahar say about that to you?
ALEXA GUEVARA: That I have talent and that I shouldn't let it go to waste, so I should go to art school and do what makes me happy.
MS. CONRAD: How did that make you feel when he said that? Take a minute.
ALEXA GUEVARA: It made me feel really good, like someone believed in me.
MS. CONRAD: Do you know anything about his family?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Not very many things.
MS. CONRAD: Did he seem like that was something that he was private about?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Did you ever meet his brother?
MS. CONRAD: Do you know anybody who did?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I think my friend Tiarrah may have met him.
MS. CONRAD: How about Dias?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Oh, yeah, Dias did meet him.
MS. CONRAD: What did Dias tell you about his brother?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: Did you form an impression of what role Jahar's brother -- that was Tamerlan, right? You knew his name?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: -- what role Tamerlan played in Jahar's life?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: When he did talk about his brother, how would he talk about him?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Objection. I don't believe this witness testified to that.
THE COURT: Yeah, I think that's right. Sustained.
BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: Did he talk about any members of his family?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He talked about his niece.
MS. CONRAD: And what would he say about his niece?
ALEXA GUEVARA: She was super cool.
MS. CONRAD: And did you ever see pictures of her?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Would he show you pictures of her?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I think he did once.
MS. CONRAD: And where were those pictures?
ALEXA GUEVARA: On Instagram.
MS. CONRAD: So he posted pictures of her on Instagram?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And, sorry, for those of us who haven't come all the way into the digital age, can you tell us what Instagram is?
ALEXA GUEVARA: It's like a different version of social media where it's only pictures and videos now.
MS. CONRAD: Was Jahar funny?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: Tell us about his sense of humor.
ALEXA GUEVARA: He was really corny.
MS. CONRAD: What do you mean "corny"?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Like you could tell he wasn't taking himself too seriously, and like he didn't really have a problem laughing at himself to make you laugh.
MS. CONRAD: May I have one moment, please.
(Counsel confer off the record.)
BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: Why are you crying?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
ALEXA GUEVARA: Because I really miss the person that I knew.
BY MS. CONRAD:
MS. CONRAD: What do you miss -- what role did he play in your life?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He was a good friend. He was a supporter. He was just there for me.
MS. CONRAD: Were there times when things weren't going so well for you that you needed someone to support you?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And how did he do that?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Well, you know, there's always the rematch in Ruzzle, inviting me over just to hang out in his room to watch TV for a bit. We didn't really have to talk about what was wrong; it was just more of something to get my mind off of it.
MS. CONRAD: Did there come a time -- well, were you aware of a trip that he took to New York City?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I am aware of a trip he did take.
MS. CONRAD: I'm sorry?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I am aware of a trip he did take.
MS. CONRAD: And I'm going to show you a photograph that's been introduced into evidence as 1178 during the prior portion of this trial. I'm sorry. I'm probably going to get a little reflection here. Well, it's a little grainy, but let's try to adjust that. Can you see that on your screen?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And can you tell us who you recognize in that photograph?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I recognize three people from this photograph.
MS. CONRAD: Okay. Can you just put your finger on the screen for each person? And it will make a mark so you can tell us who each person is.
ALEXA GUEVARA: This is Aza, this is Dias, and this is Jahar.
MS. CONRAD: Do you remember seeing this picture closer in time to when it was taken?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And do you know where it was taken?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Times Square.
MS. CONRAD: And did you hear about that trip at the time?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: Was there a time when you spent some time or got together with Jahar and some others in Cambridge?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And when was that?
ALEXA GUEVARA: It was over spring break.
MS. CONRAD: And do you remember when spring break was? This would have been 2013.
ALEXA GUEVARA: I remember it began March 16th.
MS. CONRAD: Of 2013?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: And tell us, if you would, who you got together with during that spring break in Cambridge.
ALEXA GUEVARA: I met up with Jahar, Dias, Aza and their two friends named Adlet (ph).
MS. CONRAD: Wait. They had two friends who were both named Adlet?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes.
MS. CONRAD: Okay. And where did you go?
ALEXA GUEVARA: We went to go get something to eat first because the boys were starving, so we did that. Then we ended up stopping by the Charles River later on that night.
MS. CONRAD: Where along the Charles River?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Kind of -- it's by the Shell gas station. I can't really remember exactly what the name of the street is.
MS. CONRAD: Is that near the BU bridge?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yes, I think so.
MS. CONRAD: And what was your purpose in going to the river?
ALEXA GUEVARA: To set off some fireworks.
MS. CONRAD: Did you know that when you went there?
MS. CONRAD: So what happened when you got there?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Well, I thought we were just stopping there to, like, regroup, but we got out of the car, we were talking, and Jahar went over to his car and he got a backpack and there were fireworks inside.
MS. CONRAD: And what did he do with the fireworks?
ALEXA GUEVARA: He set one up and, I guess, ignited it, and it didn't work.
MS. CONRAD: What about the second one?
ALEXA GUEVARA: The second one did work.
MS. CONRAD: And what was that like when the fireworks went off?
ALEXA GUEVARA: We were all, like, whooping and hollering, really happy. Jahar was jumping through the fireworks itself.
MS. CONRAD: What do you mean "through the fireworks"?
ALEXA GUEVARA: The way the fireworks kind of was, it was like a giant sparkler, so it's not like there was anything being like shot up into the air; it was just like a bunch of sparks coming out of it.
MS. CONRAD: And he was jumping in between the sparks or something?
ALEXA GUEVARA: No, he was jumping through them.
MS. CONRAD: Really?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: And what was your reaction to that?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I thought he was being really silly.
MS. CONRAD: Was that pretty typical for him?
ALEXA GUEVARA: Yeah.
MS. CONRAD: Do you remember when the last time you saw him or spoke to him was?
ALEXA GUEVARA: I want to say that it was probably about two weeks before Marathon Monday.
MS. CONRAD: And did you notice anything different about him?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
ALEXA GUEVARA: No, I didn't.
MS. CONRAD: I don't have any other questions.
MS. PELLEGRINI: Your Honor, I am going to have some cross-examination. It won't end before, though, four o'clock. I'd ask to start tomorrow morning.
THE COURT: How much afterwards?
MS. PELLEGRINI: Pardon, your Honor?
THE COURT: How much after, if we went a few minutes over?
MS. PELLEGRINI: No, I think it will be a little longer than that.
THE COURT: Okay. We'll take the break and resume in the morning.
Jurors, remember my instructions. We'll see you tomorrow and continue with the evidence.
COURT CLERK: All rise for the Court and the jury. The Court will be in recess.
(The Court and jury exit the courtroom and the proceedings adjourned at 3:55 p.m.)