(Sept 18, 2013, (the guardian))--Authorities allege that the three men tried to clear Tsarnaev's dorm room of evidence. But one attorney calls it a "witch hunt" Three friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty Friday to charges they hindered the investigation into the deadly attack.
Authorities allege that the friends went to Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth three days after the bombings, soon after the FBI posted photographs of the two bombing suspects, Tsarnaev and his older brother. The friends are accused in an indictment of removing several items from the room, including Tsarnaev's laptop computer and a backpack containing fireworks.
One friend, Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, was indicted last month on two counts of lying to authorities while he was being questioned. His lawyers declined to comment after the brief arraignment in US District Court but said in a statement that Phillipos "had nothing to do whatsoever with the Boston Marathon bombing or destroying any evidence."
"In the end, it will be clear that this prosecution should never have been brought in the first place," attorneys Derege Demissie and Susan Church said in the statement. Read more from the guardian »
Authorities allege that the friends went to Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth three days after the bombings, soon after the FBI posted photographs of the two bombing suspects, Tsarnaev and his older brother. The friends are accused in an indictment of removing several items from the room, including Tsarnaev's laptop computer and a backpack containing fireworks.
One friend, Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, was indicted last month on two counts of lying to authorities while he was being questioned. His lawyers declined to comment after the brief arraignment in US District Court but said in a statement that Phillipos "had nothing to do whatsoever with the Boston Marathon bombing or destroying any evidence."
"In the end, it will be clear that this prosecution should never have been brought in the first place," attorneys Derege Demissie and Susan Church said in the statement. Read more from the guardian »
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