Sometimes when you think people can’t become any crasser or fake then a deluge happens that throws you for a loop. That’s what happened this week. It was topped off by Shelley Murphy’s story in the Globe about the taping of the Mafia induction ceremony which was brought about by FBI Agent John Connolly. She failed to give him any credit for it.
What a sad person still carrying a vial of venom toward him. She’s forced to walk in line with all those who pretend that Connolly was doing something that he should not have been doing. The thing is, no matter what you may think of Connolly, he was doing what the FBI wanted him to do when it created the Top Echelon Informant program. He was supposed to enroll guys like Whitey, Stevie, and Sonny Mercurio in the program, protect them, and get information from them to bring down the Mafia. That Murphy who knows the truth yet cannot tell a full story is pretty low.
Along with that consider the lowness of the FBI itself? It knew Connolly was doing his job. It set up the corrupt Top Echelon program. When membership of two top hoodlums in its program was disclosed, it betrayed Connolly who had given it one of the greatest achievement in its fight against the Mafia. No FBI agent can feel good about that.
Speaking of deluge, what about the fake tears of Charlie Baker. Can you imagine the only thing over a period of five years he cried about before his appearance in the debate Wednesday night happened five years earlier. It’s true. Five years ago a conversation with a stranger who did something stupid by telling his kids not to go to college on an athletic scholarship made him cry. He’s still crying?
That’s pretty low and fake to be crying over something like that. We’ve all lost loved ones. We know time heals most sorrow. The closer the person the longer it takes, but a sad story of a stranger one met five years ago who made a stupid decision bringing about tears stretches all imagination. Even worse, that there is nothing else in recent years that brought tears to his eyes makes him have a pretty strange, callous and empty life.
Then we have the lawyers in the Hernandez case. They are defending a client 
charged with murder and they are acting like a spoiled child in grammar school complaining about one student copying from the paper of another. You heard the story how they filed a motion complaining that some of the wording in the prosecutors opposition to their change of venue mirrored that filed by the federal prosecutors in the Tsarnaev case.
How low can lawyers go when they complain about something like that rather than addressing the merits? Clearly the defense lawyers knowing the prior animosity between the judge and the prosecutors are playing into it. What are they expecting the judge to do? Scold the prosecution for plagiarism and return their submission to them with a failing grade? Give the defense lawyers a gold star to put on their foreheads or perhaps a bumper sticker saying: “Hernandez prosecutors are the lawyers of the month in Fall River.” That’s about all they can hope for but they won’t be getting a change of venue.
To top it the defense lawyers write: “Leaving aside all of the reactions one might have on many levels to this extensive, undisclosed submission of another’s work to a court, the conduct appears to convey a lack of interest on the part of the Commonwealth in fashioning its own vigorous opposition to Hernandez’s motion for a change of venue, “
What???? Defense lawyers crying about a prosecutors lack of interest. That’s the goal of all trial lawyers to hope the other side lets down its guard in its preparation. They don’t complain about it – they usually rejoice.
And don’t get me going about the Kansas City loss –
Still recall the pang I felt during the Trial when Shelley Murphy with a familiarity that made one queasy, referred to former FBI Agent Robert Fitzpatrick’s testimony on that day as ” What Fitzy had to say about that was, ,,, ” Talk about CREEPY !!!!!!
John:
Yeah, that was pretty bad – sort of exposed the whole game. By the way, that guy who turned the letters Whitey sent him over to the Globe, do you think he did that because he was a good guy. I suggested he might have received some sort of compensation but Shelly denied it.
Matt, I would like to comment on a couple of issues that you noted in you blog; first, the FBI did not “set up the ‘corrupt’ Top Echelon program as you described. The TE program was the brain child of many professionals at the DOJ and the FBI; they felt that there should be a program, whereby, the targeting of bad guys to go after other bag guys should be established and this program would assist all of law enforcement. The TE program was simple; target a potential member[s] of a specific organization and solicit their cooperation, basically, to take a line out of a Godfather movie; we gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse! The caveat for developing these individuals was to grant them immunity from their criminal activities, short of murder or mayhem. This authority did not come solely from the FBI; it came as a result of consultations between the FBI, the USA and the DOJ. They, all three entities, opined that allowing them to continue with their non-violent activities would lend credibility to the criminal rivals in their world; a bitter pill to swallow in some eyes, but, this is reality! These potential targets realized that this would be beneficial to their survival; of course they could also tell the government to pound sand! Finesse and skill on the part of the solicitor [in this case, John Connolly] resulted in the successful development of many TEs, who agreed to the protocols limiting their criminal activities. Now, with regard to Shelly Murphy, she is in bed with AUSA Fred Wyshak, metaphorically speaking; and her substance of many of her articles reflect that relationship. The source, whomever it might be, allows her to continue with her diatribes. It pains me to read her postings in light of the fact that she was a friend of the FBI for so many years. I believe her fear of losing her source in the USA would be devastating to her ability to come up with new, albeit incorrect and misleading articles. I only wish that she would reach out to other sources in the law enforcement community before she writes her articles. She would be surprised at what is really happening out in the “real world.” I could go on and on, but, what is the sense. The truth will come out once John Connolly is released from his illegal conviction. Remember, the Florida trial Judge Stanford Blake said that he erred when he allowed the jury to hear the charge of 2nd degree murder with a firearm. In addition, after a three year wait, and after a “writ of mandamus” was filed with the Florida State Supreme court, directing the COA to render its opinion on the original motion for an “en banc” hearing, one was finally written. The two judges on the three judge panel, reviewed the case facts and realized that the charge was illegal, issued a mandate for his immediate release; John Connolly was innocent of this third, unindicted charge. But, here we wait for the mandate to be enacted. Let’s pray that he will be released before he becomes a victim himself by way of old age or from other means. In our opinion, that is precisely what that government would like to happen; John Connolly would not get his story out to correct a miscarriage of justice. Thanks for your attention to this rant. Dick Baker
Richard:
The Top Echelon program was a creation of Hoover. Why do you want to shift it onto someone else. When Connolly sought to have Whitey and Stevie approved he got the approval from FBI headquarters. As far as USAs or DOJ people knowing the identity of informants, I thought that was a no no in the FBI. And, if any Top Echelon Informants agreed to protocol it was just a game they were playing for no one seriously thought they were going to give up criminal activity, in fact, they had to continue it to insure access to the bosses.