Memory of accused Boston bomber's friend could be impaired: expert
By Daniel Lovering BOSTON (Reuters) - An expert on marijuana abuse testified on Friday that the drug could have impaired the cognitive abilities and memory of a friend of the accused Boston Marathon bomber charged with lying to investigators. Attorneys for Robel Phillipos, 21, have argued that their client was too high on marijuana to remember his actions the night of April 18, 2013, when prosecutors say he accompanied two other men to the accused bomber's college dorm room, where they removed a backpack containing empty fireworks shells. They contend that his confession to the FBI days later that he went to suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's room with two other friends who removed a backpack containing empty firework shells did not reflect his actual memories of that evening, but rather what FBI agents told him happened. On Friday, Dr. Alan Wartenberg, who treats substance abuse patients at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Rhode Island, said he had not examined Phillipos or seen his medical records, but had reviewed a hypothetical scenario. The amount of marijuana Phillipos was believed to have smoked would "impair memory, it would impair executive functions," as well as judgment and other brain functions, said Wartenberg, who was the defense's final witness. Wartenberg said another factor was Phillipos' relatively young age, because immature neurons in younger men's brains are "more prone to cognitive impairment from marijuana" than those in older men. About the effects of marijuana in general, Wartenberg said the drug "first and foremost produces a state of euphoria," but also can alter a person's sense of time, making it seem "stretched out" or making events that happened over hours appear to have taken place in minutes. Federal prosecutors contend that Phillipos, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and two other friends of Tsarnaev went to the suspect's dorm room shortly after the FBI released photos of the suspects in the April 15, 2013, bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260. One of the Kazakhs, Azamat Tazhayakov, was convicted in July of obstruction of justice for taking the backpack. The other, Dias Kadyrbayev, pleaded guilty to obstruction in August. Phillipos, who faces the less serious charge of lying to investigators, could be sentenced to up to 16 years in prison if convicted. Defense attorneys rested their case on Friday after Waternberg's testimony, without calling Phillipos to the stand. U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock said attorneys for the two sides would make their closing arguments on Tuesday, after which the jury will begin deliberations. Tsarnaev, 21, is awaiting trial on charges that carry the death penalty. (Editing by Scott Malone and Mohammad Zargham)
