Jahar Tsarnaev finally displayed emotion in court today when his Aunt Patimat Suleimanova took the stand to testify on his behalf in the penalty phase. She is his mother’s older sister. As soon as she took the stand, she began hyperventilating and sobbing hysterically. She was unable to speak and had to be excused. As she left the witness stand, Jahar began to cry. That is the first time during the trial that he has displayed any emotion.
Today was devoted to family witnesses who traveled from Russia to testify on his behalf. We learned a lot about his parents, particularly the change his mother, Zubeidat, went through after she transformed into a Muslim fundamentalist who cast aside her jewelry and wardrobe of colorful clothes and started wearing the hijab. Unfortunately, none of the witnesses have had any contact with Jahar since he was 8-years-old. They described a happy and beautiful boy whom everyone loved.
The defense also elicited evidence that the eldest brother in Chechnya culture occupies a position of authority in family life relative to the siblings and this would have been true in the Tsarnaev family. Jahar has been described by a female college friend as a follower and not a group decision maker.
Difficult to tell how this testimony affected the jury.
I was touched today by this statement from Becki Norris, one of Jahar’s teachers.
“I have discovered the painful truth that when you care deeply for someone, that does not stop even when he does unfathomably horrible things.”
Her statement perfectly captures today’s testimony.
