Stephen Silva’s Arraignment:

Stephen Silva was arraigned on Wednesday, 6th. August, 2014, at Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston. The hearing took place at 11.00 am in courtroom 17. Judge Marianne Bowler was presiding, assistant US Attorney Peter Levitt was present for the prosecution and Silva’s attorney, Jonathan Shapiro for the defense.

The criminal charges against Stephen Silva are listed in the indictment:

http://c.o0bg.com/rw/Boston/2011-2020/2014/07/22/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Graphics/silva1.pdf

The defendant entered a plea of not guilty in answer to all charges filed against him but waived his right to apply for bail and instead agreed to voluntary detention. It was stated that the prosecution intend to call ten witnesses to testify against Silva at trial, which is expected to run over the course of one week. Silva’s attorney emphasized the fact that none of the charges brought against his client are in any way related to the bombing of the Boston Marathon. If convicted of all the charges in the indictment, Silva would likely face a prison sentence exceeding twenty years. Proceedings concluded just before 11.15 am.

This hearing was attended by Stephen Silva’s twin brother Steven and a group of five additional people whom I understand to be friends of the defendant. A number of these people were visibly, (and understandably), upset. Two young women wept in the courtroom. Immediately after the conclusion of proceedings I requested comment from this group of people who politely declined.

It has been reported by some of the mainstream media that an encounter between them and Silva’s friends outside the courthouse was not cordial. An article in the Boston Herald states that, “A half-dozen of Silva’s friends taunted media as they left the courthouse, spewing obscenities, making vulgar gestures and asking reporters to check out their “mix tapes.”  As I did not witness this I cannot comment specifically, but would add that the behavior of some of the media in regard to these people could quite possibly be described as both intrusive and insensitive.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s 6th Status Conference:

The 6th status conference in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is scheduled for Thursday, 14th August. It is expected that several issues will be discussed at this hearing, one of which will undoubtedly be the latest leaks by le in relation to the case of Stephen Silva.

Dias Kadyrbayev’s Motion to Suppress/ Pretrial Conference:

In the case of Dias Kadyrbayev, this is likely the last hearing  prior to his standing trial in September and is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 20th August. As in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, several issues are expected to be discussed.