7.Henry Alvarez — Direct/Cross
288 linesHENRY ALVAREZ, duly sworn
COURT CLERK: Have a seat. State your name, spell your first and last name for the record, keep your voice up and speak into the mic.
HENRY ALVAREZ: Okay. Henry Alvarez, H-E-N-R-Y.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: And your last name also?
HENRY ALVAREZ: A-L-V-A-R-E-Z.
MR. WATKINS: Mr. Alvarez, where do you live?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Cambridge, Massachusetts.
MR. WATKINS: And where were you born?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Cambridge, Massachusetts.
MR. WATKINS: Have you lived in Cambridge all your life?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, I have.
MR. WATKINS: Who do you live with there?
HENRY ALVAREZ: My family. My parents.
MR. WATKINS: Did you go to school in Cambridge?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I did.
MR. WATKINS: Where did you go to elementary school?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I went to the Amigos School.
MR. WATKINS: And where did you go to high school?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Cambridge Rindge and Latin.
MR. WATKINS: When did you graduate from Cambridge Rindge and Latin?
HENRY ALVAREZ: 2012.
MR. WATKINS: And after Cambridge Rindge and Latin, did you continue studying?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I did.
MR. WATKINS: And are you a college student now?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, I am.
MR. WATKINS: Where do you attend college?
HENRY ALVAREZ: UMass Boston.
MR. WATKINS: And do you also work?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I do.
MR. WATKINS: What is your job?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I'm a teller at a bank.
MR. WATKINS: What are your plans for the future?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Get my degree in marketing, hopefully find a job in the bank with marketing.
MR. WATKINS: Do you know Jahar Tsarnaev?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I do.
MR. WATKINS: Do you see him sitting here in the courtroom?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Where and when did you meet Jahar Tsarnaev?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I met him through the wrestling team freshman year, which was 2008.
MR. WATKINS: And was that at Cambridge Rindge and Latin?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, it was.
MR. WATKINS: Before we talk more about Jahar, let's talk a little bit about how you came to wrestling. Had you ever wrestled before you went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin?
HENRY ALVAREZ: No, never.
MR. WATKINS: How did you get involved with wrestling?
HENRY ALVAREZ: My freshman football coach encouraged me to try it out and some of my teammates as well. So that's how I got started.
MR. WATKINS: So in your freshman year, you were playing football?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I was, yes.
MR. WATKINS: And who was your coach at football who encouraged you for wrestling?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Roy Howard.
MR. WATKINS: And is he also the wrestling coach?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Do you play other sports besides football and wrestling?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I tried rugby one year, and I did track one year.
MR. WATKINS: Now, the football season at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, what months did that run?
HENRY ALVAREZ: From end of August to Thanksgiving.
MR. WATKINS: When did the wrestling season begin?
HENRY ALVAREZ: That Monday after Thanksgiving.
MR. WATKINS: So wrestling started up right after the football season ended?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: When you -- what did you think about wrestling when you first tried it during your freshman year?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I honestly hated it. It sucked.
(Laughter.)
HENRY ALVAREZ: It was very tiring.
MR. WATKINS: I'm sorry, what?
HENRY ALVAREZ: It was tiring. It was hard.
MR. WATKINS: Now, you had just finished the football season when you started wrestling. What was hard about wrestling at that point?
HENRY ALVAREZ: It was the pace. There was hardly any breaks, so we just go from one exercise to the next to the next to the next.
MR. WATKINS: And how long did the wrestling season run for?
HENRY ALVAREZ: It would run to mid-February, but depending if you qualified to continue like other tournaments, like state tournaments, it could run to March.
MR. WATKINS: Did you ever learn to like wrestling during your time at Cambridge Rindge and Latin?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, sometimes when -- when I would win my matches, I would be on a streak, I would enjoy wrestling.
MR. WATKINS: How many years did you wrestle at Cambridge Rindge and Latin?
HENRY ALVAREZ: All four years.
MR. WATKINS: Did you ever learn to like the physical training that went with wrestling all four years?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Absolutely not.
MR. WATKINS: When you met Jahar Tsarnaev, what -- you were in your freshman year?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Do you know what year he was in?
HENRY ALVAREZ: He was a sophomore at that time.
MR. WATKINS: Do you know whether he had wrestled as a freshman?
HENRY ALVAREZ: No, he didn't.
MR. WATKINS: So both of you were beginning wrestling for the first time?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yup.
MR. WATKINS: As you began wrestling, did you and Jahar ever commiserate about the physical-training aspect of wrestling?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah. We both -- that's how we kind of broke the ice and started to get to know each other by, you know, relating how much wrestling practice sucked, so...
MR. WATKINS: And explain that a little more to us. What kinds of things would you do with Jahar at practices?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Like sometimes when we had to run stairs for half an hour, you know, halfway through I would be tired and just trying to catch my breath, but he would always try to encourage me to continue and finish the drill strong.
MR. WATKINS: And describe a typical practice that -- you do running and you do what else?
HENRY ALVAREZ: So we would first run a mile, stretch; after that, second sprints; after that, go straight to the wrestling room, work on a move, but intensely. After that, we would probably incorporate some exercises, like pushups and sit-ups, and that's how the pace was. You just kept going one thing to the other.
MR. WATKINS: How many days did practices run, every day of the week?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Just about. Sunday was optional.
MR. WATKINS: So practices were actually available seven days a week, but Sundays were optional?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Right.
MR. WATKINS: On weekends would there also be tournaments and meets?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, on Saturdays there would be tournaments.
MR. WATKINS: In addition to the physical training and the meets, was there also discussion about nutrition and cutting weight?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yup. Our coach really emphasized on eating healthy and watching what we were eating so we could perform at a good level.
MR. WATKINS: So you talked about something you -- a lot of things you didn't like about wrestling. What were some of the things that you did like about wrestling besides winning?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I would say the bond that I connected with my teammates. Like football, for instance, is average of 45 players, so you don't really get to know everybody as well as you would on the wrestling team. So since wrestling, you only have a few wrestlers, you got to meet everybody and bond with them closely.
MR. WATKINS: Your Honor, I'm about to show Mr. Alvarez Exhibit 3285. I don't think there's an objection to it.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: No objection.
THE COURT: Okay.
(Defense Exhibit No. 3285 received into evidence.)
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Do you see a picture up on the screen?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Using your finger, you can touch the screen. Can you point out where you are in that photograph?
HENRY ALVAREZ: (Witness complies.)
MR. WATKINS: And can you point out where Jahar Tsarnaev was in that photograph?
HENRY ALVAREZ: (Witness complies.)
MR. WATKINS: What year was that photograph from, can you tell?
HENRY ALVAREZ: That was my freshman year, so 2008-2009 season.
MR. WATKINS: So you continued to do soccer for the -- I'm sorry -- wrestling for the next three years?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, I did.
MR. WATKINS: Did Jahar Tsarnaev also wrestle during those three years?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, he did.
MR. WATKINS: Two of the three years. He graduated before you, right?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: So did you come to know Jahar Tsarnaev through wrestling over those years?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: What are some of the words you'd use to describe Jahar Tsarnaev as you knew him on the wrestling team?
HENRY ALVAREZ: He was a kind person, had a very relaxed personality. I would say mellow, never caused harm to anybody or disrespected anybody. He was just a kind, funny person.
MR. WATKINS: When you say "funny," what do you mean by "funny"?
HENRY ALVAREZ: You know, sometimes he would have his moments where -- for instance, in the wrestling season, he selected a song called "Like a G6," and he would start dancing, and, you know, he would just do that just to ease the tension so -- for the wrestling team so we'd enter the tournament pretty relaxed.
MR. WATKINS: Now, these tournaments you described, do those go on all day?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, they did.
MR. WATKINS: What time do you start a tournament and what time does it end?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Tournaments usually start by ten o'clock and end around seven, eight o'clock.
MR. WATKINS: And if the tournaments are away from school, what time would you have to show up at school?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Around six, six-thirty.
MR. WATKINS: We see this large wrestling team. Is that the typical size of a wrestling team by the end of the season?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I'd say no. Probably a quarter of these wrestlers would just stop or quit.
MR. WATKINS: And does the camaraderie amongst the wrestling team build over the year as people drop out?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah.
MR. WATKINS: Jahar Tsarnaev became co-captain of the wrestling team?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: How did that happen?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Our head coach, Roy, picked him. I guess he believed he could lead by example, so that's why he picked him.
MR. WATKINS: Did you eventually become co-captain yourself?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I did by my senior year.
MR. WATKINS: Did you also talk with Jahar Tsarnaev outside of wrestling practice, socially?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, I did.
MR. WATKINS: Now, you were a year behind him. Did you have any classes in common?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Never, no.
MR. WATKINS: So the social time would be on the way to practice, leaving practice? When would that be?
HENRY ALVAREZ: It would be leaving practice, like on our way home. So we lived in the same part of Cambridge, so we just walked down the same street and would conversate [sic].
MR. WATKINS: Over the period of years you knew him as a wrestler, did you ever have conversations with him about religion?
HENRY ALVAREZ: No, never.
MR. WATKINS: What is your faith? What faith were you raised in?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I'm Catholic.
MR. WATKINS: Did he -- did you know or find out that he is of the Muslim faith?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, I did once. We were getting a bite to eat, and I realized he didn't like pepperoni pizza, and he explained to me why, but that was the only time he ever really talked about his religion.
MR. WATKINS: Did you know that Jahar had a brother?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Did Jahar talk about his brother to you?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, he did once.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: Well, that may stand.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: That may stand. Whatever he's going to stay after this.
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Did you know that his brother was a boxer?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And how did you know that?
HENRY ALVAREZ: He told me.
MR. WATKINS: And what did he tell you about his brother?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: When Mr. Tsarnaev spoke about his brother, what would his demeanor be?
HENRY ALVAREZ: He would sound -- I could sense some pride in him talking about his brother, about his boxing skills.
MR. WATKINS: Now, Jahar graduated when you were still a junior, and you went on to wrestle the next year?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Now, the wrestling practice sessions, you actually practiced through Christmas vacation?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, we did.
MR. WATKINS: Does it sometimes happen that former wrestlers come back during those Christmas vacations and help with practices?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And did Jahar do that?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, he did.
MR. WATKINS: How often did he do it when you were the co-captain that senior year?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Probably say he came around, maybe, eight, nine times during his winter break.
MR. WATKINS: I'm going to talk about senior night. Is there a tradition amongst the wrestling team, something called senior night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And explain what senior night...
HENRY ALVAREZ: It's basically the last home match for seniors, and it's more like a recognition for all the hard work you've done.
MR. WATKINS: So explain the -- what happens. So first there's a match?
HENRY ALVAREZ: First we take a picture with the coaches and someone else. Like it could be a parent or friend or sibling.
MR. WATKINS: And that's before the match gets started?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes. Yes, before the match.
MR. WATKINS: And before the match gets started, do you dress -- well, explain. What happens for the actual senior night? What physically happens?
HENRY ALVAREZ: So the coaches announce, you know, just our names, the seniors' names; hands us -- it could be like a flower, a rose or something like that; and someone takes a picture of us.
MR. WATKINS: I would like to show Mr. Alvarez Exhibit 3281.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: No objection, your Honor.
(Defense Exhibit No. 3281 received in evidence.)
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Do you see Exhibit 3281 in front of you?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Can you point out, going left to right and tapping on the screen, who is it that we're seeing in this picture?
HENRY ALVAREZ: That's Roy Howard, me, Jahar, and Coach Payack.
MR. WATKINS: And that was taken at senior night before the match?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: Why is Jahar in the picture of your senior night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I'd asked him to accompany me that night. He showed up right before I was about to take the picture.
MR. WATKINS: And then you also wrestled that night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And who was the opponent that night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Newton South.
MR. WATKINS: I'm going to show the witness 3284.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I'm not sure if this is in.
MR. WATKINS: Perhaps just for counsel, then.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: I don't see the relevance of this picture, your Honor.
MR. WATKINS: Perhaps I can lay a foundation.
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Mr. Alvarez, do you see the picture in front of you?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, I do.
MR. WATKINS: Who is wrestling in that picture?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I am.
MR. WATKINS: And was that from that same night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, it is.
MR. WATKINS: I would move to admit 3284.
THE COURT: Okay. I'll admit it.
(Defense Exhibit No. 3284 received into evidence.)
BY MR. WATKINS:
MR. WATKINS: Mr. Alvarez, is that you wrestling that night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, it is.
MR. WATKINS: Did you win?
HENRY ALVAREZ: I did.
MR. WATKINS: And did Cambridge Rindge and Latin win that night?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, we did.
MR. WATKINS: Do you see Jahar Tsarnaev in this picture?
HENRY ALVAREZ: No, I can't see him. Sorry.
MR. WATKINS: Do you see him up in the stands here perhaps?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, I see him now.
MR. WATKINS: Is that Jahar Tsarnaev watching your wrestling match?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. WATKINS: And that was your senior year?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes, it was.
MR. WATKINS: Now, you learned that Jahar was involved in the Boston Marathon bombing, right?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah.
MR. WATKINS: Is his involvement with that consistent with the Jahar Tsarnaev you knew when you were wrestling for three years?
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: Overruled. You may answer it.
HENRY ALVAREZ: Never. I honestly never could imagine he would do something like this.
MR. WATKINS: That's all I have, your Honor.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Just very briefly.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. CHAKRAVARTY:
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Good morning, Mr. Alvarez. Excuse me. Good afternoon. The defendant was about a year older than you?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, I believe so.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: He was a year ahead of you in school?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And yet you joined the wrestling team at around the same time?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And one of the things that you would talk to him about was the fact that wrestling was tough? It was very difficult; it was physically demanding?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Right.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And the workouts were incredibly difficult, and you would run to exhaustion, essentially, every day?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And yet both of you stuck through it?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And it takes a lot of discipline to maintain through the course of a season wrestling?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And then to excel, to become better at it, takes even more discipline?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: When you knew the defendant, you knew him through -- primarily through wrestling and, you know, the times in the locker room and the times coming and going. Is that right?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So you didn't have a relationship with him outside, with other of his activities, correct?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Not really.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: So as you started going through your wrestling career there, he became captain?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, he did.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And it looked like, from that picture, that -- he looked like a bit of a mentor to you. Is that fair to say?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yeah, somewhat.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And then you became captain after he graduated, correct?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And that picture also showed that you had a very close-knit group on the wrestling team, correct?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And you had a lot of support and a lot of friends?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And the coaches, Mr. Howard and Mr. Payack, they were really tight with everybody on the team, right?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And they tried to help everybody?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Yes.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: And they were there -- if you needed anything, you could go to them?
HENRY ALVAREZ: Correct.
MR. CHAKRAVARTY: Thank you.
MR. WATKINS: Nothing, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right, Mr. Alvarez. Thank you. You may step down.
HENRY ALVAREZ: Thank you.
(The witness is excused.)
MR. WATKINS: Roy Howard.