states. mr. thick, who s the attorney that represents tsarnaev. good morning, your honor, william thicke for mr. tsarnaev. the court, that s the judge magistrate, and you have had an opportunity to speak with him. mr. thicke says very briefly, your honor. the judge, so you have your lawyers here? and then the defendant nods affirmatively, according to this transcript. then the judge says, mr. tsarnaev, i am the magistrate. this hearing is your initial appearance before the court. we are here because you have been charged in a federal complaint. at this hearing, i will advise you of your constitutional and legal rights. i will tell you about the charges against you and the penalties that the court could impose if you are found guilty. you have been charged with, one, use of a weapon of mass destruction in violation of 18 united states code section 2332-a and malicious destruction of property resulting in death in violation of 18 united states
clearly, he nods most times in this transcript, but he does say the word no, so we know he can speak. and at the end of the transcript, the judge makes the observation on the record that he is competent, he s lucid, and that he s alert. also very important in terms of understanding the defendant s condition. if i can just make another point tom fuentes go ahead, jeffrey. it s just that william thick is the defense lawyer and not only is he highly regarded, he spent six years working in russia and he s fluent in russian, which i think could come in very handy in the course of this investigation. plays a role in this, both of these suspects, including the one, the 19 year old who has survived this whole ordeal, if you will, he was a young boy, only 8 or 9 years old when he came to the united states from russia, but certainly russia plays a role.