Both Dr. Borukhova and Mr. Mallayev told the police that they would never be involved in anything illegal because of their religious beliefs. Dr. Borukhova's relatives sit every day in the second row of State Supreme Court, murmuring prayers from books printed in Russian and Hebrew. Dr. Malakov’s relatives occasionally hiss at them across the aisle.The defendants' Sabbath observance became the center of another controversy as the judge attempted to assure that the trial would end and the jury would return a verdict before his previously scheduled vacation was to begin. In order to avoid court appearances on the Sabbath, defendants' counsel ended up having only overnight to prepare his summation, while the prosecution ended up with the weekend to prepare theirs.
Covering their hair in accordance with religious rules for married women, Dr. Borukhova’s sisters wear bouffant wigs that became an issue when prosecutors claimed that an eyewitness saw one sister at the murder scene..... Mr. Mallayev wore a black leather skullcap and matching jacket early in the trial, but switched to a more staid look: a suit and a velvet yarmulke bearing the Star of David. Earlier, he refused on religious grounds to shave his beard to appear in a lineup, finally agreeing to a shave with an electric razor.
Just before sentencing, Mallayev told the judge he did not kill anyone, saying: "I live by the Ten Commandments." During sentencing, Justice Robert J. Hanophy quoted both the New Testament and Confucius.
