Boston bombing suspect asks that trial be moved
Jun. 18, 2014 7:14 PM

BOSTON - Citing "an overwhelming presumption of guilt" across Massachusetts, attorneys for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a federal judge Wednesday to move his Nov. 3 trial to Washington, D.C.

"A presumption of prejudice will only arise in the extreme case," his attorneys said in a 10-page motion. "But this is such a case."

...more at link
http://www.thetimesherald.com/usatoday/article/10802609

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Boston bombings suspects' friends due in court
AP 1:29 a.m. EDT June 23, 2014

BOSTON (AP) — A friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev plans to ask a judge to release him on bail while he awaits trial on charges of impeding the investigation into the deadly attack.

Khairullozhon Matanov is due in federal court Monday for a detention hearing. Matanov is accused of deleting computer files and lying to investigators in the marathon probe.

Prosecutors said Matanov had dinner with both suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar, hours after the April 15, 2013, bombings. He is not charged with participating in the bombings or knowing about them in advance.

...more at link
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... /11253011/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Quincy cabdriver denied bail, will stay in Plymouth jail
Matanov is being held in “solitary confinement” at the Plymouth County jail, said Edward Hayden, Matanov’s defense laywer from Lynn.
By Chris Burrell
Posted Jun. 23, 2014 @ 3:07 pm


BOSTON – The 23-year-old Quincy man, who was friends with the alleged Boston Marathon bombers, will remain in a Plymouth jail after his lawyer failed Monday to convince a federal judge in Boston to release him on bail.

Khairullozhon Matanov, a former Quincy College student who worked as a cab driver in Braintree for the past two years, is accused of deleting computer files and lying when questioned about his relationship with alleged bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

...more at link
http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/articl ... 9/?Start=1

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Tsarnaev friend due in court Wednesday
Jury selection to begin next week in Azamat Tazhayakov trial
By Associated Press
Published: June 25, 2014, 8:17 am Updated: June 25, 2014, 1:50 pm

BOSTON (AP) — A friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is due in court for a hearing to discuss jury selection for his upcoming trial.

Azamat Tazhayakov is charged with impeding the investigation into the 2013 bombing, which killed three people and injured more than 260.

Tazhayakov and another friend are accused of removing items from Tsarnaev’s dorm room at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth several days after the bombing. Tazhayakov is not charged with participating in the bombing or knowing about it in advance.

A final pretrial hearing is scheduled Wednesday.

Jury selection is slated to begin Monday. U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock has said he expects to call in hundreds of potential jurors to pick a jury of 12 regular jurors and six alternates.

...more at link
http://wwlp.com/2014/06/25/tsarnaev-fri ... wednesday/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Marathon bombing suspect is granted jury request
Posted: Jun 27, 2014 7:39 AM Updated: Jun 27, 2014 7:39 AM

BOSTON (AP) - A federal judge has granted a request from Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for jury records for Massachusetts federal courts over the past three years.

Tsarnaev's lawyers asked for the records to determine whether a plan adopted in 2009 has corrected racial imbalances on juries. The changes followed a court challenge from two black defendants who said black citizens were underrepresented because they lived in neighborhoods where courts often didn't have current addresses for residents.

Prosecutors do not oppose the request. Judge George O'Toole Jr. granted it Thursday.

The names and addresses of people called for jury duty will not be provided to the defense.

...more at link
http://www.wsvn.com/story/25880960/mara ... ry-request

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Jury selection to begin for friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect charged with obstruction
The Associated Press
June 29, 2014 11:46 PM

BOSTON - Federal prosecutors and lawyers representing a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are getting ready to choose a jury for his federal trial on obstruction of justice charges.

Azamat Tazhayakov is accused of removing items from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth several days after last year's attack. Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when twin pressure cooker bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line.

Jury selection is set to begin Monday.

Prosecutors say Tazhayakov and another friend, Dias Kadyrbayev, took Tsarnaev's backpack containing fireworks after seeing Tsarnaev's photograph on the news and realizing he was a suspect. The backpack and fireworks were later recovered in a landfill.

...more at link
http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/news/ju ... -1.1186731

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___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Trial Should Be In Boston, Prosecutors Say
AP: Posted: 07/01/2014 8:57 pm EDT Updated: 07/02/2014 5:59 am EDT

BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors are opposing a defense request to move the November trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to Washington, D.C., saying they believe he can get a fair trial in Boston.

Prosecutors said in court filing Tuesday that defense lawyers have failed to show any extraordinary prejudicial local news coverage, and that a preliminary defense survey of bias in the population is unreliable and irrelevant.

"The Court should reject Tsarnaev's contention that pretrial prejudice will prevent him from obtaining a fair trial in the Eastern Division of Massachusetts - a large and diverse area with a population of over five million," prosecutors said.

...more at link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/0 ... mg00000024

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Mistrial threat looms over case of friend of accused Boston bomber
By Scott Malone of Reuters

BOSTON (Reuters) - Four days after the deadly Boston Marathon bombings, dozens of heavily armed federal agents surrounded the home of two friends of the suspected bomber, ordered them out and took the men in handcuffs to a police station for hours of interrogation.

Whether what the suspects said is admissible in court is a question that will loom large next week at the trial of Azamat Tazhayakov, charged with obstructing the probe into the April 15, 2013, attack that killed three people and injured 264.

The judge hearing the case has warned that if he finds Tazhayakov's comments, made before he was advised of his right to legal representation, were not voluntary, he will declare a mistrial, forcing prosecutors to build a case without a key piece of evidence.

Defense attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock to suppress the statements, but refused to have Tazhayakov, one of three men who prosecutors say removed a laptop computer and backpack from the accused bomber's dorm room, take the stand before trial.

The judge declined, saying he would allow prosecutors to cite them in their opening statements set to begin on Monday, and would determine during the trial if Tazhayakov understood he was free not to answer agents' questions.

...more at link
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/mistr ... ton-bomber

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Jury selection done for marathon suspect friend
Thursday, July 3, 2014
By:Associated Press

BOSTON — A jury has been selected for the obstruction trial of a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv).

Twenty-year-old Azamat Tazhayakov is accused of removing items from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth several days after last year's deadly attack. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two pressure cooker bombs went off near the race's finish.

Jury selection was completed Wednesday. The jurors report Monday for opening statements.

...more at link
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/lo ... ect_friend

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Charges against bombing suspects' pals questioned
By DENISE LAVOIEAP of Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — In the weeks after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, prosecutors charged three of the surviving suspect's friends with obstructing the investigation or lying to authorities.

More than a year later, they charged a fourth friend with deleting computer files and lying about certain details of his relationship with a second suspect.

As the first friend heads to trial this week, some defense attorneys and others are criticizing the extent to which federal prosecutors have charged the men, who are not accused of participating in the attack or knowing about it in advance.

...more at link
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/charg ... questioned

_________________
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___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Gelzinis: Tsarnaev pals are not like Whitey's
Sunday, July 6, 2014
By:Peter Gelzinis

Last summer, it was Kevin Weeks testifying against his surrogate father, James "Whitey" Bulger, in a gangster trial that now seems rooted in the dark ages.

Tomorrow, 21st-century terrorism will be dissected in the same waterfront courthouse, when 20-year-old Azamat
Tazhayakov answers to federal obstruction of justice charges for the role he is alleged to have played in thwarting the investigation of the accused Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

But the more things change, the more they remain the same. Just as Whitey was buried last year by so many of his former lugs who’d kept their mouths shut and went to jail for him, Azamat Tazhayakov has two buddies, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos, who are awaiting their separate trials for the same charges.

At the moment, Azamat Tazhayakov has rejected a plea deal from the feds, which would have meant rolling over on one or both of his fellow defendants.

All three were friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at UMass Dartmouth and all three are charged with going to Dzhokhar's dorm room and helping dispose of evidence in those critical hours after the FBI broadcast pictures of the Tsarnaev brothers walking on Boylston Street with backpacks slung over their shoulders.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock has ruled that prosecutors could use evidence indicating that a month before Marathon Monday, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told
Tazhayakov that he knew how to make a bomb.

...more at link
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/co ... ke_whiteys

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Prosecutor: Tsarnaev said martyrs go to heaven
By DENISE LAVOIE of Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev texted a friend 90 minutes after the deadly explosions and said, "Don't go thinking it's me," a federal prosecutor told jurors Monday during opening statements at the friend's obstruction trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Siegmann also revealed that a month before the bombings, Tsarnaev told the friend, Azamat Tazhayakov, and another pal that "it was good to die" a martyr because you would die "with a smile on your face and go straight to heaven."

...more at lnk
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/prose ... -to-heaven

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Prosecutor: Tsarnaev friend impeded investigation
Associated Press By DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor has told jurors that a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev impeded the investigation into the bombing for one reason — to help Tsarnaev.

Azamat Tazhayakov is accused, along with his roommate, of removing a backpack, fireworks that had been emptied of their black powder and a laptop computer from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth several days after the bombing.

During opening statements at Tazhayakov's trial Monday, a prosecutor told the jury that the two friends "got rid of" the items after seeing photos and video of Tsarnaev released by the FBI.

Tazhayakov's lawyer is expected to give his opening statement later Monday morning. Tazhayakov has pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges.

...more at link
http://news.yahoo.com/prosecutor-tsarna ... 00229.html

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Friend of accused Boston bomber recognized suspect - FBI agent
By Scott Malone of Reuters

BOSTON, July 8 (Reuters) - A friend of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, facing trial on charges of obstructing the investigation into the deadly blasts, recognized the man the FBI was seeking hours before he was publicly identified, an agent testified on Tuesday.

Sara Wood of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was part of a team of law officers who surrounded the Massachusetts apartment shared by Azamat Tazhayakov and a fellow Kazakh exchange student days after the attack and questioned them about their friend, bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Tazhayakov, 20, is the first of three Tsarnaev friends to be tried on charges of interfering with the investigation of the blasts, which killed thee people and injured 264. They are accused of removing a laptop and backpack containing fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth late on April 18, 2013, hours after the FBI released photos of the bombing suspects.

...more at link
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/frien ... -fbi-agent

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Boston Marathon bombing suspect called September 11 attacks a hoax: roommate
By Reuters
Wednesday, July 9, 2014 14:50 EDT

The accused Boston Marathon bomber once called the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks a hoax but showed no signs of extremist views, his college roommate testified on Wednesday.

The roommate, Andrew Dwinells, took the witness stand for a second day of testimony at the trial of Azamat Tazhayakov, a college friend of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who has been charged with obstructing the investigation into the April 15, 2013, attack, which killed three people and injured more than 260.

Dwinells, who has largely avoided the spotlight since the bombing, said he recalled Tsarnaev watching a documentary about the Sept. 11 attacks and saying he believed them to be a conspiracy carried out by the U.S. government.

...more at link
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/09/b ... -roommate/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Texts from accused Boston bomber at issue in obstruction trial

BOSTON (Reuters) - The trial of a friend of the accused Boston Marathon bomber on Thursday is expected to turn to evidence of text messages between the defendant, a Kazakh exchange student, and the man accused of the deadly 2013 blasts.

Azamat Tazhayakov is the first of three friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to face trial on charges of obstructing the investigation into the bombing by removing a laptop and backpack containing empty fireworks shells from the suspected bomber's dorm room three days after the blasts.

Attorneys for Tazhayakov, 20, argued at the start of the trial earlier this week that he never touched the items, but that his friend Dias Kadyrbayev, also 20 and from Kazakhstan, removed both from Tsarnaev's room at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and later threw the backpack into a dumpster.

On Wednesday, prosecutors played a video deposition from Kadyrbayev's girlfriend in which she said she had urged him to dispose of the backpack.

...more at link
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/texts ... tion-trial

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Ex-roommate: Tsarnaev seemed normal after bombings
Posted: Jul 09, 2014 9:38 AM Updated: Jul 10, 2014 1:37 AM
Reported by Victoria Warren, Steve Cooper

BOSTON (AP) - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did not seem nervous or agitated in the days after the deadly attack, his former college roommate testified Tuesday during the trial of a Tsarnaev friend accused of obstructing the investigation.

In the few days after the April 2013 bombing, Andrew Dwinells said, Tsarnaev spent much of his time the same way he always did -- sleeping, texting and going on his computer.

"He slept a little bit more, but that was it," Dwinells said.

Dwinells' testimony came during the trial of Azamat Tazhayakov, who is accused with another friend, Dias Kadyrbayev, of removing items from Tsarnaev's University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth dorm room three days after the bombings and hours after the FBI posted video and photos of Tsarnaev as a suspect.

....more at link
http://www.whdh.com/story/25969579/ex-r ... r-bombings

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Accused Boston bomber spoke of martyrdom before attack -FBI

BOSTON, July 11 (Reuters) - Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told his friends about martyrdom and bomb-building over lunch before the attacks last year, an FBI agent testified on Friday in the trial of one of the friends for obstruction.

Azamat Tazhayakov is the first of Tsarnaev's friends to face trial. He is charged with removing evidence from Tsarnaev's room at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and throwing away a backpack containing fireworks casings as the FBI searched for the suspect, who is accused of killing three people and injuring 264 in the April 2013 bombings.

...more at link
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/accus ... tack-fbi-1

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Friends of accused Boston bomber told FBI backpack was dumped-agent
By Daniel Lovering of Reuters

BOSTON, July 14 (Reuters) - A friend of the accused Boston Marathon bomber, charged with obstructing the probe into the blasts, and his roommate "simultaneously" told the FBI a backpack belonging to the suspect had been thrown into a dumpster, an agent said Monday.

Azamat Tazhayakov is the first of three friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to face trial on charges of interfering with the investigation into the blasts by removing a laptop and the backpack, which contained empty fireworks casings, from Tsarnaev's room three days after the April 15, 2013, attacks that killed three people and injured 264.

FBI Special Agent John Walker interviewed Tazhayakov, his roommate and fellow Kazakh exchange student Dias Kadyrbayev and a woman described as Kadyrbayev's girlfriend in the days after the attacks, at one point recovering a baseball cap and ash tray taken from Tsarnaev's room at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

On April 20, the second day of interviewing the friends, Walker told the pair that the FBI was trying to find the backpack.

....more at link
http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/frien ... mped-agent

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Lawyers Want To Boost Chances Of Moving Trial
AP | By DENISE LAVOIE
Posted: 07/15/2014 7:24 pm EDT Updated: 07/15/2014 7:59 pm EDT

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a judge on Tuesday to allow them to bolster their request to move his trial outside of Massachusetts.

In a written motion, Tsarnaev's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. to give them until Aug. 7 to present an expert's analysis of survey data and media coverage of the case to support their argument that Tsarnaev cannot get a fair trial in Massachusetts.

....more at link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/1 ... mg00000024

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light