Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s aunt, Patimat Suleimanova, made it as far as the witness stand— and less than than 5 feet from the defendant— when she began weeping uncontrollably, and had to be removed from the courtroom.
Tsarnaev dabbed his eyes with tissue in a rare show of emotion. At another point as he was being escorted out by US Marshals he turned and blew a kiss toward his relatives.
His cousin Nabisat Suleimanova, took the stand and effusively described Tsarnaev as a "wunderkind," Nabisat and Patimat were two of five family members from the Dagestan region of Russia flown to the US to testify for the defense.
A 6th relative more than a week ago was turned around at Logan Airport and sent back to Russia by Homeland security officials citing security concerns, according to NBC News.
Dagestan and other areas of the Caucasus for years have been beset by instability, Muslim uprisings and repression from Moscow.
While his relatives on the witness stand doted over Dzhokhar, they also pointed out that his mom, Zubeidat, and dad, Anzor, from rival Avar and Chechen ethnic groups, faced familial challenges and a life always on the move. The defense tried to parallel the unsteadiness of the region with the unsteadiness of Tsarnaev’s family life. But Judge George O’Toole refused the attempt to explore the violence in Chechnya, which left up to 50,000 dead, and asked the defense to stick to the issue.
The Tsarnaev family testimony is seen as the highlight of the defense case in this federal death penalty trial. The 21-year old defendant faces life in prison without parole or execution.
In the hope that some among the 12 jurors will vote to spare his life, the defense has tried to humanize Tsarnaev and may have succeeded, but to what effect is questionable.
