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 Attorneys for Khairullozhon Matanov, a cab driver from Kyrgyzstan
who was charged with lying to investigators by downplaying his
relationship with the accused bombers after calling police to offer
information on them, are expected to ask a judge to crack down on
leaks about their client from law-enforcement sources.
A Boston magazine story on Matanov contained information from
non-public FBI reports on agents' interviews with Matanov, his
lawyers contend.
Matanov went to the police on the morning of April 19, 2013, four
days after the attack, to say that he believed his friends Dzhokhar
and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were the men pictured in photos the FBI had
released as they sought to identify the suspected bombers.
 Prosecutors said he lied about his relationship with the brothers
and accused him of destroying some records of his interactions with
the two.
The older of the pair, 26-year-old Tamerlan, died on the night of
April 18, 2013, following a gun battle with police. Younger brother
Dzhokhar, now 21, was arrested the next evening and is awaiting a
trial to begin in January on charges that carry the death penalty.
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Attorneys for another associate of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Stephen Silva,
are also due in U.S. District Court in Boston on Friday. Silva is
charged with having possessed a gun with its serial number filed off
that prosecutors say the Tsarnaev brothers used in the shootout, and
also faces drug charges.
Silva, who has pleaded not guilty, may change his plea to guilty on
Friday, according to a court filing.
The surviving Tsarnaev appeared in court on Thursday for the first
time in more than a year, telling a judge that he was satisfied with
he steps his attorneys have taken to prepare for his trial.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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