“Get your hair out of your face.”
“Stop fidgeting.”
“Can’t you smile once in a while?”
At a time when Tsarnaev should be making a good first impression on the people who will judge him and, perhaps, decide whether or not to spare his life, the 21-year-old accused Boston Marathon bomber is coming across like a sulky teenager sitting in after-school detention.
He slouches in his chair with his head bowed. He doesn’t look potential jurors in the eye as they talk about how they think he’s guilty and whether he’s worth saving. He seems really depressed as I watch him on the closed-circuit video feed of the proceedings inside Courtroom 9 of the John Joseph Moakley federal courthouse.
My colleague, CNN producer Sonia Moghe, has watched Tsarnaev from a seat inside the courtroom. In person, she says, he just looks bored.
His hands are in constant motion. He thumbs through court papers but doesn’t pause long enough to actually read them. He grooms his eyebrows and beard with his fingers. He runs a pen through his unruly curls, using it as a comb. He flips through a square of Post-Its and plays with it, tossing it, twirling it, coddling it in his hand.
This kid desperately misses his smartphone.
Whoa! His infamous tweets and texts from April 15 to 18, 2013, come rushing back:
“Ain’t no love in the heart of the city. Stay safe people”
–
In fact, Geragos says, that may be the best play the defense can make: to portray its client as an impressionable kid heavily influenced by his older brother, who died in a gunbattle with police a few days after the bombings.
For some clients, he adds, coaching only goes so far.
“I think if they’ve had to school him to some degree and if it hasn’t worked, then they have to work with what they have,” Geragos says. “They understand they’ve got to play the case they’re dealt with. So they’re going to show and embrace what he is.”
That may prove difficult when the jury is shown disturbing images of the carnage caused by the bombs.
“When the graphic stuff comes, jurors are going to be looking at his reaction to everything,” Navarro says of Tsarnaev. He could come unglued, especially if prosecutors display graphic images of his brother’s demise.
“You may see him crumble into an embryo position, crossing his arms across his chest in a self hug, bringing his knees up,” Navarro says. “That’s unfortunate but probably to be expected of somebody his age.”
Federal prosecutors have warned jurors they will be shown images of a dying Martin Richard. It will be horrific.
Some who can’t bear to watch may end up looking at Tsarnaev instead. It could be the single most important moment of his life.
No cameras are allowed at the Tsarnaev trial. But CNN’s Ann O’Neill will be there every day. Think of her as The 13th Juror, bringing insights here weekly. And follow @AnnoCNN on Twitter daily.
