Man accused of lying after bombings seeks release
Source: AP-Excite
BOSTON (AP) - Lawyers for a man charged with lying to investigators after the Boston Marathon bombings are asking a federal judge to release him from jail, saying he had nothing to do with the deadly bombings and isn't a flight risk.
Robel Phillipos, 19, of Cambridge, faces a detention hearing Monday in U.S. District Court. Defense attorneys said in court documents filed Saturday that authorities' claim that Phillipos gave them conflicting accounts is "refutable."
"This case is about a frightened and confused 19 year old who was subjected to intense questioning and interrogation, without the benefit of counsel, and in the context of one of the worst attacks against the nation," lawyers Derege Demissie and Susan Church wrote. "The weight of the federal government under such circumstances can have a devastatingly crushing effect on the ability of an adolescent to withstand the enormous pressure and respond rationally."
Phillipos was charged last week with lying to investigators about visiting bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's college dorm room on April 18, three days after the bombings. Two other friends were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by taking a backpack with fireworks and a laptop from Tsarnaev's dorm room.
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This courtroom sketch shows defendant Robel Phillipos appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass. on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Phillipos, and two other college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)
FarPoint
(12,293 posts)He chose poorly.
"By sheer coincidence and bad luck, he was invited to attend a seminar on campus on April 18," the night the three allegedly went to Tsarnaev's dorm room, according to the documents. "As such, he did not have much to offer the authorities regarding the investigation of the suspect."
ColesCountyDem
(6,943 posts)He's an adult who chose poorly.
Wernothelpless
(410 posts)One would think any allegiance to his buddy would be overshadowed by all the carnage ... no sympathy for cowardice or their twisted buddy system ...
elleng
(130,773 posts)Not until 7 paragraphs into the article do we learn that this 'seeking release' is about BAIL, which as I recall the 3 defendants (certainly the other 2; not sure about Phillipos) DECLINED bail upon filing of charges. Phillipos now is asking to be released ON BAIL pending the proceedings against him.