Tsarnaev Trial Day 8: Northeastern University Laws Professor Daniel Medwed tells WGBH the reason prosecutors put Stephen Silver on the witness stand, “ is to literally and figuratively put the Ruger 9 mm gun in Dzhokhar’s Tsarvaev’s hands.”
Medwed, an expert in criminal law and a renowned scholar on the topic of wrongful convictions, was referring to Silver’s testimony Tuesday when he testified that he and Tsarnaev were best friends, they attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School together, and that’s why he loan him the gun that prosecutor’s allege was used to kill Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier the night of April 19, 2013.
Medwed says the crux of the defense theory is that, “Dzhokhar is the unwitting, younger brother under the influence of his domineering older brother. “ He says, “any evidence that suggests that he took the initiative, that he was proactive in planning and plotting these events, could help the prosecution’s case.”
Medwed says Silver’s testimony, therefore was beneficial to the prosecution.
When WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay asked Medwed about a possible deal Silver’s attorney may have made in exchange for his testimony, Medwed says, ‘it came out during cross examination by defense attorney Miriam Conrad, that Silver is facing a minimum of five years in prison on drug charges, and that he could get the benefit of a lenient sentence if he “provides substantial assistance” to the prosecution.
