Latest on Boston trial: Prosecutor cross-examines historian
May 5, 2015, 1:55 PM
4:30 p.m.
A prosecutor has noted that Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) spent little to no time living in Chechnya, a place that a historian had described as having a patriarchal society.
During cross-examination Tuesday, prosecutor William Weinreb said Dzhokhar and his brother, Tamerlan, instead lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Dagestan region of Russia before moving to the U.S. in 2002.
Historian Michael Reynolds had said Chechen families are very patriarchal, with the father or son having the clear role as the family’s decision maker.
The defense has argued that 26-year-old Tamerlan was the mastermind of the plot, not Dzhokhar, who was then 19. Tamerlan died in a shootout with police.
Weinreb says Dzhokhar smoked cigarettes and marijuana and drank alcohol despite admonitions from Tamerlan.
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4:05 p.m.
A historian testifying in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) says the area of southern Russia where the family has roots has had centuries of conflict and is very patriarchal.
Michael Reynolds is a Princeton University professor who testified Tuesday for the defense in Tsarnaev’s federal death penalty trial. A jury will soon decide if the 21-year-old Tsarnaev should be sentenced to life in prison or to death.
Reynolds says the Tsarnaev family hails from the North Caucasus region of Russia, including Chechnya. He says Chechen families are very patriarchal, with the father or oldest son having the clear role as the family’s decision maker.
The defense has said Tsarnaev’s older brother, Tamerlan, was the mastermind of the plot. He died in a shootout with police.
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11 a.m.
A psychiatrist who treated the father of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) from 2003 to 2005 has testified that he diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Alexander Niss testified for the defense Tuesday in Tsarnaev’s federal death penalty trial. Tsarnaev has been found guilty of all 30 charges against him, and the same jury that convicted him will soon decide whether he deserves life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
Niss says Anzor Tsarnaev told him he had been tortured in a Russian camp during the Russian-Chechen war in the 1990s. Niss says Tsarnaev showed typical symptoms of PTSD, including anxiety, flashbacks and paranoia.
Niss’ testimony appeared designed to support the claim by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers about dysfunction in Tsarnaev’s family.
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10:20 a.m.
A college roommate of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s (tsahr-NEYE’-ehvz) wife has testified in the Boston Marathon bombing trial that she and another roommate fled their apartment in the middle of the night after Tamerlan yelled at her and threatened her.
Amanda Ransom said Tuesday she was close friends with Katherine Russell from 2007 to 2009. She says Russell became alienated from her friends after she began dating Tamerlan, the older brother of Dzhokhar (joh-HAHR’), who is on trial for his life.
She says she was awakened in 2009 by loud noises. She went to check on Katherine, and Tamerlan yelled at her and said, “If I ever see you again …”
Dzhokhar’s lawyers say Tamerlan was the mastermind of the 2013 bombings. Tamerlan died in a police shootout.
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