Time is ticking away. If you’ve watched any of the Triple Crown races like the Kentucky Derby on TV, a few hours into the broadcast a celebrity will be given a microphone and while the cameras roll she is suppose to say, “jockeys mount your horses” or something like that. Celebrities always seeking to call attention to themselves by trying to say those four words in an usual or memorable manner but despite their best efforts there’s little anyone can do with four words.
Well we are at the equivalent stage in the Bulger case. Judge Casper on the 20th issued a call for a “Status Conference set for 5/22/2013 03:30 PM [tomorrow] in Courtroom 11 before Judge Denise J. Casper.” I’d like to cover it for you folk but I was 3700 miles away from Boston when I got the news so it’ll be difficult to attend.
I don’t expect much will happen but who know whether Carney & Brennan (C&B) have any last minute tricks up their sleeves to stop their horse Whitey from being led into the starting gate. They’ve got a little over two weeks to see if they can scratch Whitey from the June 6 running.
While trying to figure what they had up their sleeves, I began thinking of how Wyshak or Kelly (W&K) would break out of the starting gate. They like to start off the testimony with the gangster hoping that by the time the jury gets the case for deliberation the stench from them will have somewhat faded from the courtroom and the jurors minds. But since two of these hoodlums have written books and given prior suspect testimony, if C&B are on their game these low lives will be on the stand for weeks and by then the jury will be totally revolted with the government prior to hearing any other evidence.
It’s not a comfortable feeling for the W&K to figure the jurors are going home each night revolted with the the witnesses that are being used by the government. No matter how skilled W&K are they must accept that they are using guys who admit to murdering people and are trying to blame another guy for them doing it. It’s going to be a hard sell.
What I’d do if I were in their shoes is start the case off, sort of like you’d see in a movie, with the discover of the bodies. The first witness should be Tommy Foley of the state police. He wrote a book and although I have a problem with him over his involvement in the Naimovich case which I attributed to his being duped by the FBI and his immaturity, I never though other than that he was a straight guy.
He describes finding the bodies in a book he has written. He should testify pretty much like he set it out in the book going to the location across from Florian Hall in Dorchester and finding the three bodies buried together. At that point stop and bring on the family members of Bucky Barrett, John McIntyre and Deborah Hussey and the forensic people who were involved. The jury would be pretty interested at that point trying to figure out how this tied in.
Then put Foley back on the stand and have him tell of the dig over at Tenean Beach down near Neponset and finding Paul McGonagle’s body. Then bring in some cops who can tell how Paulie’s brother was murdered on a South Boston street and have members of Paul’s family talk about his growing up in South Boston and his relationship with Whitey.Then the forensic people.
Call Foley back to the stand again and have him tell how a week after McGonagle was found, Tommy King was found. Go through the same routine with King with his family etc.
Finally put Foley back for the fourth time and have him tell the riveting story of looking for Debra Davis. Have him explain how they almost gave up and were planning to shut it all down when they at last discovered her. Then put on the Davis family to tell what they knew about Debbie’s life and her associates and how it felt having found her after all those years of wondering and how their mother Olga suffered through that time.
By that time the prosecutors will have a jury that is totally in their back pocket. The case is effectively over since the jurors will have their minds on these dastardly acts and a determination to punish whoever W&K point their fingers at even if they suggested it was Judge Casper.
It’ll be interesting to see what is done. In the meantime pay attention to the news coverage tomorrow and you may get a hint on what is next.
Matt, I’m confused. I thought I read that Carney is Whitey Bulgers “court appointed” attorney? Is this true? Wasn’t he found with close to 1 million in cash? Aren’t court appointed attorneys free?
Also, does he or a defendant have any say in the jurors who are chosen for their trials?
Question:
Carney and Brennan are court appointed to represent Whitey. Their bills will be in the millions. Whitey’s broke. The government seized all his money and is keeping it. Unlike with Flemmi, who was worse than Whitey, he was allowed to keep at least half of his properties. Yes, Whitey does not have to pay for his lawyers, you do. And, you are probably paying for Martorano’s, Flemmi’s, Weeks’ lawyers also, along with Joker Tsanaev’s many lawyers.
A panel of jurors in the number of 50 or 100 or even more is call to serve on a jury. The jury will start being impaneled on June 6. It will take several days. Each juror will have to answer questions and the defendant will have a say on what jurors sit for his trial by examining them and then challenging those he does not like. There are two types of challenges, for cause and peremptory. With the latter you need no reason to exclude a juror although the number of peremptory challenges are limited to less than a dozen depending on the size of the jury.
sounds like this horse race has more than its fair share of mudders wearing a few different colors