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 Kazakh exchange student Azamat Tazhayakov was convicted of
conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice for going
to suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's room three days after the
April 15, 2013, attack and removing the backpack containing the
empty fireworks shells.
The jury in the federal court trial found Tazhayakov not guilty of
similar charges involving a laptop computer.
Juror Daniel Antonino told reporters outside the courthouse the
jurors had concluded the men had taken the laptop "because it was
valuable, plain and simple," and not to influence the investigation.
Tazhayakov's mother broke down in tears when the verdict was read
and left without speaking to reporters. Prosecutors charged that
Tazhayakov, fellow Kazakh exchange student Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel
Phillipos of Cambridge, Massachusetts, removed evidence from
Tsarnaev's room at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth
after realizing their friend was a bombing suspect.
 Tazhayakov could face up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction of
justice count and up to five years on the conspiracy count. He will
be sentenced on Oct. 16, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock said.
Defense attorneys said they planned to appeal the verdict, which
they said reflected high emotions in a city still reeling from the
attack that killed three people and injured more than 260 others.
"Trying a case in the middle of a bombed city, it's very difficult
to get a juror who's objective," said attorney Matthew Myers. "We
understand what this town has been through."
Kadyrbayev is awaiting trial on the same charges later this year,
while Phillipos faces the lesser charge of lying to investigators.
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RAISING THE STAKES
During six days of testimony, jurors heard FBI agents testify that
Tazhayakov told them he had been present when the items were removed
and later watched as a garbage truck hauled away the backpack.
Tazhayakov's attorneys had said their client never touched either
item, contending Kadyrbayev did so and later dropped the backpack
into a dumpster. None of the three men were charged with playing any
role in the bombing.
One former federal prosecutor said Monday's verdict could raise the
stakes for Kadyrbayev's attorneys. "It doesn't bode well for the
next defendant," said Walter Prince, of the law firm Prince Lobel
Tye, noting that Tazhayakov's decision not to testify in his own
defense during the trial may prompt Kadyrbayev's lawyers to put him
on the stand. "Otherwise the jury is left with just the FBI's
version of what occurred," Prince said.
Kadyrbayev's lawyers had asked the judge to throw out his statements
to the FBI after he was ordered out of his home by heavily armed
agents, saying they were involuntary. Woodlock declined to rule on
Kadyrbayev's request but rejected a similar argument from
Tazhayakov's lawyers. Tsarnaev is awaiting trial on charges that
carry the death penalty.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Susan Heavey, Jim Loney and
Peter Cooney)
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