Boston Marathon suspect may never be able to be questioned, mayor says

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The surviving Boston bombings suspect is so seriously injured that investigators may struggle to interrogate him effectively, it was suggested on Sunday, as further questions were raised about the FBI's previous contacts with his dead brother.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old who is accused of planting the pressure-cooker bombs with his older brother Tamerlan that killed three and injured more than 180 at the Boston Marathon last Monday, was being treated in hospital for a reported bullet wound to the throat and was unable to speak. He was captured on Friday night, a day after a violent gun battle with police that left his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, dead.

Boston mayor Tom Menino told This Week on ABC that he was so seriously ill that agents might never be able to interrogate him. "We don't know if we'll ever be able to question the individual," he said.

Dan Coats, a Republican member of the Senate intelligence committee, told ABC: "The information that we have is that there was a shot to the throat. It doesn't mean he can't communicate, but right now I think he's in a condition where we can't get any information from him at all."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/21/boston-marathon-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-injuries

[Ellipsis]

1. .

[elleng]

3. Zackly, Ellipsis.

[freshwest]

22. Unless the blood loss starved his brain of oxygen and he's not able to think well?

[ManiacJoe]

55. Drugged due to the tube(s) down his throat.

[Tx4obama]

5. Or they can let him type it all out on a laptop.

But having his statement on paper in his own handwriting would probably be better.

[DRoseDARs]

6. Quite frankly, I'm dumbfounded they keep saying that. n/t

[LiberalEsto]

25. I wonder if the investigators are going after other suspects

and want to give them a false sense of security by claiming that Dzhokhar isn't communicating.

[Ellipsis]

28. I was "kinda" thinking the same thing.

[smirkymonkey]

44. Just had that same thought.

Eventually they will get something out of him by hook or by crook.

[condoleeza]

51. Message from a FB friend just min. ago

I'm not sure if anyone here is from Boston, (I'm a masshole) but if you are stay safe! There's someone on the loose in New Bedford! stay safe please!?

This doesn't appear to be over yet.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

9. ROFLMAO! As I was scrolling down I was thinking "Well, he'll just

have to write his answers then. No problem."

And then I saw your post and burst out laughing.

Bravo, Ellipsis! Thanks for the belly laff!

[glinda]

27. Uh...ya....

[Historic NY]

46. Actually he is .........

Federal investigators have begun questioning hospitalized Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and he is responding, according to reports on Sunday night.

NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that Tsarnaev, 19, is beginning to respond to a team of federal investigators mainly through writing. Williams reported that he is being questioned for brief periods and that he has difficulty communicating because of his throat injuries.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/charges-could-be-filed-sunday-90384.html#ixzz2R95OYBTj

[leveymg]

2. First he was sedated. Now, he must have a wound that made him forget how to write.

Last edited Sun Apr 21, 2013, 05:37 PM - Edit history (1)

This is just stalling so the public doesn't start pressing for answers to the wrong sorts of questions.

[lexw]

4. Interesting. I didn't think of that.

But when I heard all the gun fire at the boat, I was surprised he was still alive. Maybe they were shooting to scare not to kill.

[Tx4obama]

7. Or they are putting out misinformation if he has already talked and they have 'others'...

... under surveillance that they don't want to run/disappear.

[leveymg]

21. He'll sing. Hard to believe "others" (if any) haven't already gone to ground or exited Stage Right.

[ocpagu]

11. I tried to make this same point previously...

... in another thread, but I was almost lynched, so I gave up.

[demcoat]

18. Last night there was a picture out there of him standing

Also here on DU I read a thread that said he was cursing like a sailor on the ambulance to the hospital and now he cant be interrogated?

[TwilightGardener]

8. I read he was supposedly swearing up a storm in the ambulance.

Unless he's suffered some brain or other neurological damage since (no way to really assess that until off the vent and sedation), why don't these officials refrain from making predictions?

[Justice]

16. where did you read that? I have not seen that anywhere

just asking.

[leveymg]

23. Really, where was that written?

[freshwest]

24. "swearing profusely in the ambulance ride after his final confrontation with the FBI"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022726820

[smirkymonkey]

45. Thanks! I somehow missed that one.

Now I don't believe anything the media is telling us about this situation.

[freshwest]

50. Not necessarily. As I just commented on another two threads, there are people who have seen it.

And I had to leave out my own personal story on the strange things that happen when a person is injured. But one was nadin and the other a nurse.

Yes, it's altogether possible he was swearing his head off, for the reasons given there. And in my own experiences, people that are injured don't always cry or beg for help or be quiet.

In fact, they resist strongly such things. For their own reasons. So don't fall into CT land, because this will come to trial in a few months as everyone recovers.

At that stage of this saga, there will be in place the rules of evidence, laws against perjury, and the best defense that can be made to save this teenager. It's the right thing to do. No words said on the media or online will change anything at the trial.

[leveymg]

53. Here's the quote in the LA Times story linked above.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-boston-bombings-20130421,0,2725026,full.story

The neck wound apparently did not initially silence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was swearing profusely in the ambulance ride after his final confrontation with the FBI, according to a source familiar with the case. The Justice Department remained quiet Saturday on whether officials had been able to question Tsarnaev, or whether they would attempt to do so before he consults an attorney.

Strange, unless one simply accepts the obvious that the USG is putting a lid on this.

[Igel]

56. Or he was trying to speak,

but unintelligibly and the "source familiar" with the events assumed he was swearing, whether in English or another language.

Anonymous source vs anonymous sources. Comes down to who you want to believe. Or holding belief in abeyance.

[Pachamama]

10. The irony....

The very people who want to interrogate him....by whom he was shot....who want to deny him Miranda rights....and he can not talk because of where he was shot....In the throat and tongue...

Just very ironic....

But, he has hands, correct? Can write and nod or shake head? I guess there is some forms of communication he is capable of....typing answers?

[Tx4obama]

30. I haven't read anything about his 'tongue', got a link for that? n/t

[LiberalElite]

34. There's a reference to "tongue damage" in this link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/21/us-usa-explosions-boston-shooting-idUSBRE93I0GQ20130421

[Tx4obama]

35. Which conflicts with the report from federal source in article in Comment #32.

I think no one really knows - except his doctors and they aren't talking.

[Tx4obama]

32. He was shot in the SIDE of the NECK.

-snip-

Tsarnaev, 19, remains in serious but stable condition with a gunshot wound to the side of the neck, a federal law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Sunday.

-snip-

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/21/us/boston-attack/index.html

[HomerRamone]

12. "Who cares," Menino answered reporters when asked about the suspect's condition

Some are apparently totally unconcerned with anything other than convicting this pair period...

[ocpagu]

14. Exactly.

Why asking questions, right? There's nothing to discuss.

/sarcasm

[Alamuti Lotus]

13. "too injured for torture to be effective"? *nt

[kestrel91316]

15. Is the mayor a physician? Just curious how he is qualified to make this assessment.

[agent46]

17. And so it begins?

No fault. No foul. The propaganda media owns the narrative once again?

[ocpagu]

19. And once again...

... those calling for some sanity will be labeled as the lunatics.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. And of course the mayor would know. He's an official.

[Trajan]

26. Stupid comment ....

If he is alive he can be questioned .... unless he is mentally incapacitated, but there is no reason at this point to believe he sustained an incapacitating injury ... No such information has been released ...

My question is - How long is that Miranda exception going to last ? .... I don't think it has that kind of 'shelf life' .... It was supposed to become ineffectual after 48 hours, but now that he cannot speak for those 48 hours, what's happens to the Miranda exception ?

[npk]

62. Good question

It appears that the investigators have already been asking the suspect questions without his Miranda rights having been read. Of course no one knows if that line of questioning is going to be used at trial. They could at any time read him his Miranda rights, but only information obtained after his rights have been read to him would be admissible in court.

But if we continue to listen to idiots like Lindsay Graham and John McCain the suspect could be labeled an "enemy combatant" and then his Miranda rights would not be afforded to him. I don't believe that is gong to happen, not with this administration in control.

[catchnrelease]

29. All he needs is thumbs

He seemed to be adept at using twitter, so let him tweet his answers.

[Ruby the Liberal]

31. Wait, what?

How did he go from climbing out of the boat and surrendering, to critically wounded and unable to talk, ever?

CBS took the pic of him climbing out of the boat.



I am going with the idea that they are deliberately feeding misinfo so as not to give a heads up to anyone else they are tracking.

[demcoat]

33. Yea but the other people

the feds are tracking can also access this picture. You can clearly see him walking by his own power and only an idiot will believe that this man somehow is incapable to giving information that will help the feds catch the reminder of the terror cell.

But then again its stories like this that feed conspiracy theories.

[Ruby the Liberal]

38. There is another image out today

that is reportedly from post-surgical that shows a huge (closed) incision spanning the length of his neck on the left side, so who knows. I won't post it here though. For all we know thats a photoshop to support a narrative? It is claimed to be 'leaked' from Beth Israel.

[ConcernedCanuk]

40. Misinformation from the FBI, police, Administration, etc,?

.
.
.

hard to believe - NOT.

There are probably thousands of pics and videos circulating the globe, and millions viewing them.

USA better handle this one right, because I do not think I am exaggerating when I say the whole World is watching.

Enlighten me if I'm wrong, but I do not remember any attempt at negotiating with the guy when he was in the boat - ya know, bullhorns and all that?

And I'll be surprised if this 19 year old will be able to say a word that the public will ever hear.

Just my opinion.

CC

[Ruby the Liberal]

41. I really don't want to speculate here on DU

Lets just say that I ain't buying what they are selling on Dzhokar's role in this tragedy. At. All.

I'll leave it at that.

[jakeXT]

48. there is some mumbling

[smirkymonkey]

47. Yep. I think you are on to something.

[GoneFishin]

36. I hope he doesn't need the same surgery CIA Director William Casey needed

just before he was supposed to testify on Iran-Contra, and lost his brain function for speaking.

[SunSeeker]

37. I see no reason why he can't communicate once he is off sedation...but that might be a while.

Unless he suffered brain damage, which none of the reports suggest, there is no reason he can't type out or simply write his answers to questions while his neck heals once he is off sedation. And regardless, his neck injuries do not appear to have affected his vocal chords, if the reports of him cursing and asking for ice water when apprehended are true--unless doctors messed up his vocal chords trying to sew up his neck wounds. What I find really mind-blowing is that this guy survived not one but two separate massive bullet sprays in his direction.

[ReRe]

39. Who the eff knows what the hell is going on?

Can we believe anything that anyone says anymore? The bomber is probably spilling his guts, i.e., he CAN talk and they are interrogating him right there in the hospital. All I know is I'm glad he's not on the streets of Boston dropping off anymore homemade bombs. He may be brain dead for all we know.

[littlemissmartypants]

42. Speech-generating device/Augmentative Alternative Communication System...

Communication Bill of Rights


All people with a disability of any extent or severity have a basic right to affect, through communication, the conditions of their existence. All people have the following specific communication rights in their daily interactions. These rights are summarized from the Communication Bill of Rights put forth in 1992 by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities.

Each person has the right to

request desired objects, actions, events and people
refuse undesired objects, actions, or events
express personal preferences and feelings
be offered choices and alternatives
reject offered choices
request and receive another person's attention and interaction
ask for and receive information about changes in routine and environment
receive intervention to improve communication skills
receive a response to any communication, whether or not the responder can fulfill the request
have access to AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) and other AT (assistive technology) services and devices at all times
have AAC and other AT devices that function properly at all times
be in environments that promote one's communication as a full partner with other people, including peers
be spoken to with respect and courtesy
be spoken to directly and not be spoken for or talked about in the third person while present
have clear, meaningful and culturally and linguistically appropriate communications
From the National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities. (1992). Guidelines for meeting the communication needs of persons with severe disabilities. Asha, 34(Suppl. 7), 2–3.

http://www.asha.org/NJC/bill_of_rights.htm

[limpyhobbler]

43. Piers Morgan just said: suspect Tsarnaev is awake, and responding to law enforcement questions.

who knows

http://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/326112327873216512

[Bosonic]

49. Stephen Hawking manages to communicate

If he's conscious, I don't see why the little god-bothering homicidal shitbag should have any physical impediment...

[Ter]

52. This is going to rile up the CT's

n/t

[davidpdx]

54. "is going to"

I think it pretty much has already happened. Some of them happen to be on DU.

I'm surprised at this point that someone on DU hasn't insisted that he is alive and well in Guantanamo and that the whole story about him being in the hospital is a lie. I've seen some posts that pretty much run borderline to that kind of an idea.

It just goes to show we have some pretty unstable people around here.

[Ter]

58. I can't go to Freak Republic because it'll upset my stomach

But what are they saying there? CT's tend to be libertarian Ron Paul types, however they exist on the left and right as well.

[davidpdx]

59. No, I'm talking about what DU'ers are saying

I wouldn't go over there either. Those people are nuts.

[Myrina]

57. Dan Coats ... Intelligence Cmte ... does not compute.

The man's an idiot. Jus' sayin' ....

[npk]

60. Suspect has already been communicating with investigators through hand writing

So while he may bot be able to speak he is communicating by other means.

[uppityperson]

63. Media reporting sucks. That is what happened.