Boston bomb alleged accomplices hearing nixed

A court hearing for two university students accused of destroying evidence in the Boston marathon bombing investigation was cancelled today.
The probable cause hearing -- where defendants can challenge the basis for their arrest -- had been scheduled before Judge Marianne Bowler. But Robert Stahl, lawyer for one of the accused, Dias Kadyrbayev, said both defendants had agreed to waive the hearing.
There was speculation that this signaled a possible resolution of the charges, but Stahl told AFP he was just trying to "give everyone more time."
No new date for a court appearance was set. Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov are accused of conspiring to help destroy evidence belonging to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old charged with setting off the bombs at the finish line of the marathon on April 15.

According to prosecutors, the two went to Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts -- where they were all studying -- and took his backpack and laptop and threw them away.
A third friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Robel Phillipos, is accused of lying to investigators after the blasts.
Tsarnaev's brother Tamerlan, who was also an alleged bomber, was killed while trying to escape police on April 19.