By Jennifer Levitz
BOSTON--The defense in the Boston Marathon bombing trial rested
Tuesday after seeking to show that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's older
brother took the lead in gathering bomb components and downloading
the anti-U.S. jihadist propaganda that allegedly motivated the
siblings.
An online al Qaeda-linked article titled "Make a Bomb in the
Kitchen of Your Mom" was downloaded to a computer belonging to
older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev in December 2011 and was
transferred to the younger brother's laptop a month later,
testified defense witness Mark Spencer, a digital forensics
consultant.
In addition, Tamerlan's computer showed searches for information
related to the Boston Marathon and bomb parts ahead of the April
2013 attack, he said. A top activity on Dzhokhar's laptop was
Facebook, he said.
But under cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aloke
Chakravarty pointed out that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's laptop showed
other activity leading up to the bombings. "There were multiple
searches related to jihad as well, right?" he said.
"I believe so," Mr. Spencer said. Searches on that laptop, he
said, included the phrases "jannah al firdous"--which refers to the
highest levels of paradise--and "call of the jihad."
The defense team in the high-profile federal trial called only
four witnesses, compared with more than 90 government witnesses.
Closing arguments for both sides are expected Monday.
The relatively brief defense was expected: the 21-year-old Mr.
Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but a defense
lawyer admitted at the start of the trial that he participated in
the bombings, which killed three people and injured more than
260.
If Mr. Tsarnaev is convicted, the defense is likely to call more
witnesses in the sentencing phase, during which jurors will decide
whether to sentence the defendant to death or life in prison
without parole.
The prosecution argues that Mr. Tsarnaev was a willing and
remorseless participant who was radicalized by online extremist
writings. The government said Monday that video surveillance showed
Mr. Tsarnaev setting down a bomb, concealed in a backpack, in a
crowd that included children. The defense has sought to portray him
as having been coerced by his older brother, whom the defense
alleges was the real engineer of the dual bombings near the finish
line of the race.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 years old, was fatally injured four days
after the bombings during a confrontation with police amid a
manhunt for the suspects.
Early in the trial, Judge George O'Toole ruled that there would
be limits during the trial phase on how much Mr. Tsarnaev's lawyers
could portray him as influenced by his brother.
But with its few witnesses, the defense tried to make the case
that Tamerlan was the force behind the attacks.
Defense witness Elaina Graff, a fingerprint expert with the
Federal of Bureau of Investigation, testified that Tamerlan's
finger prints were on the lid of a pressure-cooker lid uncovered
from the scene of the shootout with police during the manhunt. The
brothers made crude bombs packed in pressure cookers, the
government alleges.
A container of 3 pounds of explosive powder found at the scene
of the shootout had multiple fingerprints for Tamerlan compared
with two for Dzhokhar, she said.
Many items--including duct tape, tools, and a book about
wiring--seized from the Cambridge, Mass., apartment where the
Tsarnaev family lived had only Tamerlan's fingerprints, she
said.
On cross examination, she said she wouldn't expect to find the
fingerprints of someone who didn't live in the apartment full-time.
According to the prosecution, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spent most of his
time on campus at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, where
he was a student.
Ms. Graff also said she found Tamerlan's prints on cardboard and
a piece of paper found in the vicinity of the marathon bombings,
while Dzhokhar's fingerprints weren't found.
On cross-examination, Ms. Graff said that she had been able to
get fingerprints off only a few of the 500 items, including bomb
components, gathered from the scene.
"Due to the extreme temperature and force in an explosion, it is
not unusual to not find fingerprints," she said.
Said Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb: "That absence of a
person's fingerprints doesn't tell you whether he did or didn't
touch it?"
"That is also correct," Ms. Graff said.
Write to Jennifer Levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com
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