Phillpos defense rests without putting client on stand

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) – The federal trial of friend of marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev continued Friday, when the defense rested its case without putting their client on the stand.

Robel Phillipos is charged with lying to authorities about his movements three days after the bombings. Friday was the third day of the defense presentation, and the marijuana defense was called into question.

The defense rested without putting their client on the stand.

Family friends tell FOX 25 they feel the trial so far has gone well for Phillipos.

“The trial is fair," a friend of the Phillipos family said.

Inside the courtroom, the defense called Dr. Allen Wartenberg, an expert on substance abuse, as their witness.

Phillipos' defense is that he was so high he cannot remember what happened the day he was questioned by the FBI. The feds accused him of lying about being in Tsarnaev's dorm room the day evidence was removed. Phillipos has denied being there.

Several witnesses Thursday testified that he was very high that day but the doctor's testimony was restricted.

"Because they limited me to the hypothetical that was presented to me, I really couldn't talk about those," he said.

Outside Wartenberg did acknowledge smoking a lot of marijuana can impact a person's memory, but blackouts are not common.

"With alcohol people can black out for hours or even days with no memory at all. With marijuana that kind of blackout is unusual,” he said.

Next the government had its turn to question Wartenberg, ripping apart much of his testimony.

Then the expert drug witness hired by the defense admitted on the stand that he was only hired a month ago, is being paid $200 an hour and only interviewed the defendant for a few minutes.

After that the defense decided not to put Phillipos on the stand, instead resting.

Lawyers make their closing arguments on Tuesday and then the case goes to jury.

Cox Media Group