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Friends Of Robel Phillipos Show Support In Court

BOSTON (CBS) - A friend of the marathon bombing suspect, who's on trial now, had supporters in court Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Robel Phillipos lied to investigators when they asked him what he knew about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, but his friends think he just made a mistake.

"He's a good person, and it's just really sad to see this," said one friend of Phillipos.

"I'm just here to support him and his family. We all make mistakes. We all make mistakes in life," another supporter told WBZ.

If it was a mistake, it was one authorities say cost the city of Boston hours with a bombing suspect on the loose even after they put out surveillance photos. Prosecutors say at first, Robel Phillipos didn't tell them he'd gone to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the bombing, nor did he admit he saw two friends throw away evidence including fireworks.

Special agent Timothy Quinn testified that when pressed, Phillipos turned on his friend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Defense attorneys began their case with two friends on the stand: David Borden, and Lino Rosas. Rosas said Phillipos was so high the day he went to Tsarnaev's room that he was a ten on a scale of one to ten.

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