When those who occupy the offices of the U.S. Attorney in Boston heard that they had prevailed and that Judge Casper supported Judge Stearns’s decision that Whitey Bulger’s lawyers Carney and Brennan (C&B) of the law firm of Carney and Bassil were prohibited from presenting an immunity defense at trial, joy bounced throughout that office. In the otherwise glum atmosphere, a smile or too could be discerned. The feelings of exhilaration did not last too long because these women and men prosecutors are engaged in a serious business so quickly the office was again filled with the fog of important business as badge-bedecked people shuffled in and out of offices speaking in voices hardly above a whisper. Yet a more perceptive person could sense the feet had a lighter step for now there’d be little to stand in way of the Whitey trial.
The most amazing thing is in their knee jerk reaction to anything proposed by a defendant the prosecutors made an enormous mistake: they gave up a huge part of their case, perhaps the only part that was not tainted by the stench of gangsters. You want to know how bad the stench is, these gangster who have murdered many people have written books bragging of their exploits.
Think of how the jury will feel listening to one witness who murdered two young women just beginning their adult lives and who was as much of a terrorist as Tamerlan Tsarnaev blowing up a car in the middle of a populated area trying to kill a lawyer and who murdered twice if not four or five times as many as Tamerlan who was allowed to keep most of his ill-gotten property to induce him to testify.
All the government witnesses have been paid money and given huge sentence reductions for their evidence. They are still being protected because as the defense team of C&B will point out that any of these guys could go out and murder someone or do some other despicable act yet the government would feel compelled to hide its knowledge of it. Otherwise it would destroy the value of a witness who has little credit to being with.
I don’t know when C&B first figured this out but they were way ahead of me. It was a huge risk but when your client has nothing to lose then you can really go all in. They had to propose an outrageous idea and figure the prosecutors would oppose it tooth and nail; then, push it even more hoping the prosecutors would not see the game for what it is.
They knew if they succeeded they had pulled an inside Royal Flush. Now it wasn’t going to be Whitey who looked like the bad guy but the prosecutors. Whitey’s lawyers will be cut short every time they try to get into the area of immunity by the prosecutors objections. Rather than having the jury look at Whitey and think “who is he trying to kid” they’ll look at the prosecutor and think “what is he trying to hide?”
Whitey team of C&B have suggested that he met with former head of the Federal Strike Force Jeremiah O’Sullivan on a certain date or dates (which they won’t tell us). After a discussion with him (which they won’t disclose) that Whitey and O’Sullivan agreed in exchange for him doing something (they won’t tell us what he was to do – sometimes it seems it was nothing) or not doing something (we’re left to surmise he agreed not to kill cops if O’Sullivan let him kill robbers, like O’Sullivan made him a sheriff’s deputy), O’Sullivan promised him something. (It’s like immunity but we really don’t know what it is because it changes.)
Picture in your mind a jury hearing that testimony from Whitey. The prosecutors had it right, the whole idea is absurd. Why then did they oppose the defendant making a fool of himself?
Why didn’t they appreciate that for Whitey to claim this immunity he had to admit murdering all those people he is charged with murdering and had to admit all the other crimes with which he is charged. He’d have to go into details on how he did them. He’d have been shown to be the vile person that he is, just like the witnesses who testified against him. The prosecutors had the chance to remove some of the stench from their case with the birds of a feather argument but forfeited it.
How could they have failed to see this. Is that they are so used to winning by putting these criminals on the stand that they sit back assuming that the rot oozing from them will permeates the person on trial. I guess it’s been easy up to now in the closed confined of the federal system that they forgot the jurors bring in fresh air.
“[T]he instinct of Christian civilization has most wisely declared that into their judgments there shall upon every occasion be infused fresh blood and fresh thoughts from the streets. Men shall come in who can see the court and the crowd, and coarse faces of the policemen and the professional criminals, the wasted faces of the wastrels, the unreal faces of the gesticulating counsel—and see it all as one sees a new picture or a ballet hitherto unvisited.
Our civilization has decided, and very justly decided, that determining the guilt or innocence of men is a thing too important to be trusted to trained men. It wishes for light upon that awful matter—it asks men who know no more law than I know, but who can feel the things that I felt in the jury box. When it wants a library catalogued, or the solar system discovered, or any trifle of that kind, it uses up its specialists. But when it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the ordinary men standing round.”
The prosecutors have forgotten it is the jury they must win in front of and not the judges. They surely have not forgotten that the last Boston jury they put these men in front of rejected just about everything they testified to.
In brief: We’ve seen how the gangsters, drug pushers, killers, serial killers and newsies (Globe, Howie Carr, Gelzinis, O”neill, Leer, Cullen) are in CAHOOTS with the Federal Prosecutors (Wyshak, e.g.) FBI and DOJ. We ask: Who are the FEDS in CAHOOTS with on the International level? Narco-Terrorists? How come for the past 40 years, 600 persons in Suffolk County die every year from narcotic overdoses. Recently, former President Bill Clinton railed against the fact that most o.d. deaths are from oxycontin-type drugs diverted from Big Pharma. (Years back it was mostly black market/black ops opium.morphine-heroin trafficking from Opium Triangles and Afghanistan.) President Barack Obama agrees we must do better (more interdiction, prevention, medical services for addicts) but the Presidentis frustrated (by whom? lobbyists?) in dealing with these wicked webs weaved by FEDS et al, including the multi-billion dollar narco-terrorism industry.
Bill:
I don’t see the drug lords playing much of a role in this matter. Oxycontin is produced by a pharmacy (I think in Connecticut) owned privately by doctors. It has given Congress and the DEA a run around for years. The powers are there to stop the spread of that drug but the will isn’t. You have to understand that the people in Congress have good intentions but that’s how most people find their way to Hell. Congress is too busy to too many things to understand that it is not doing its job. But it doesn’t matter since no one is paying attention now that Jodi Arias has been convicted. She’s going to face either life in prison or the death penalty. Too bad she didn’t kill him in Massachusetts and then become a federal informant against someone, she’d be hanging around in some North End bar with those other killers although she’s sort of a novice having only killed one person. How come she might be executed for one murder and guys who murdered five, ten or twenty are walking among us. Go figure.
To: Matt and others who’ve commented over the last several days. Time Magazine (5-13-13)has an article “Liberty v. Security” which details the DOJ/FBI/H.S.’s new powers to “rummage” through our private lives; to harrass, intimidate, and attempt to cower us. Big Brother now has carte blanche to harrass anyone of us; a fat cat bureacrat FED on a whim can annoy, intrude, assault you, your family and friends, on “suspicion” that you may be, for example, a “pro-life” activist. 2. Carr and Wyshak both advanced their careers by getting in bed with known felonious perjurers, serial killers and terrorist bombers (both Flemmi and Morris were involved in bombings(threatened bombings)of civilians in public places. 3. Wyshak cut deals with and sent known serial killers (up to seven of them) back into the Communities of Milton, Dorchester and South Boston (and downtown e.g. barrooms on Newbury Street; restautants along the waterfront from Quincy to North End to Revere.) Was Feds’/Wyshak’s motive to intimidate us—the families and friends of William Bulger? Are the serial killers an arm of the FEDS? Are the drug kingpins and dealers? Are any FEDS using Narco-Terrorists as TEI? Are the FEDS protecting domestic and foreign enemies? Read Time Magazine! It’s an eye opener about home-snooping-invasion powers under the DOJ’s “FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide.” 4. THE DOJ is waging Psy-OPs (psychological operations) against pro-life and pro-gun annd other Americans. The CYCLOPS is watching the people, and we the people just don’t understand who’s gaurding whom. What deep pockets, what anti-American operatives are being protected by the FEDS? What anti-American animus or motives move the FEDS closer to solidifying an oppressive Imperialistic Orwellian State? 5. How do we stop the FEDS from trampling us? By walking tall and speaking out and freely expressing yourself wherever and however you deem fit. Give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. Don’t give them an inch. Don’t budge. Don’t bend. Stand your ground and be yourself. Don’t be one of them or those who use office and power to hurt and harrass innocent people on “suspicion” or whim.
Mr. Connolly/or should I say “Guten morgen”:
While I am certain Mtc9393 is the one you wish to hear directly from, I couldn’t help but respond. I went to a bookstore recently. I scanned the aisles and the shelves and saw the Time Magazine piece. I also saw magazines featuring covers of Edison and others. I saw a magazine cover that featured the “2,000 Companies that run the world.” (I couldn’t help but recall a certain computer/software related company out in let’s just say the Midwest that deals with the top 2000 companies recalling that I had read of the connections that that company in turn had to Mr. Clinton and “others.”)
I skipped over the Twilight, Fifty Shades, and Hunger Games aisles and wandered some more until I came to “the education aisles.” There, front and center and at eye-level is something that was not seen even a year or two ago. Books and Books and books and tapes and CDs and a plethora of materials on GERMAN. Reams and reams of materials promoting Germany. The Germans had the premier shelf space. Gone were the books that pushed Spanish as the primary second language to learn. Chinese has seen it’s language day in the sun too. Japanese which was big about 15 years ago – gone,except for maybe one kids book. (Russian, the same – however, I bet Russian starts to make a come back – we’ll have to keep an eye on the shelves and aisles, but if you buy one, I bet you’ll be on the watch list.)
I wandered along to the travel Section. Books and books and reams and reams again all on: Germany. They had premier shelf space, again.
I noted that German is also considered now the determinative “strategic language” that is getting a massive promotional push in the public schools as a major part of its curriculum.
It’s not just the bookstores that are pushing a certain German “style” shall we say. There’s a new tv show out, called “Graceland.” The title alone will appeal to Midwesterners of a certain leaning. It’s about a cute young man (sandy blond hair, blue eyes, fair skinned, super smart, looks a little on the you know what side – sound familiar?) and he is the up and coming star “FBI agent.” The dark skinned hispanic man tells him “his lies” are his life.” and we the audience just go on, blindly and overlook that. Note the story line: the new show is targeting Russians. Same with the new storyline direction of NCIS. The feds are known to “consult” on these types of shows.
It’s all happening right before our very eyes albeit subtly- “the writing if you will is literally on the wall” – for those who have eyes to see or for those who don’t turn the blind eye to it, that is.
The fact is, Henry Ford’s photo and Edison too, were considered “leaders” to whom Hitler looked up to, literally. Hitler looked up to Henry Ford so much he put a photo of him above his desk – and let’s not forget who Henry Ford, a businessman, hired a thug to intimidate the unions. Henry Ford’s peering into the lives of his employees and efforts to control their behavior even after hours was unparalled on the spectrum of “control-freak manager.” The robotic assembly line of people was his ideal world don’t forget, all in the name of material progress.
Lastly, there was another magazine featuring a rather stern looking man on the cover (a man who looked like he has either never laughed a day in his life or who has never gone to the bathroom.) They called him the most powerful man in the world and how he is crushing all auto companies these days…or something like that. He is the head of Volkswagon.
After the quick survey of what was on the walls in virtually every section, and watching the shift in storylines on primetime leading television shows, I felt compelled to pick up a little “language map.”
I learned a new phrase that may come in handy for people who ask too many questions like all of us on this thing – “Ich mochte telefonieren.” it stands for “I would like to make a telephone call.” Alternatively, we can all rest on repeating “Ich verstche nicht – Sprechen Sie English?” Or, “I don’t understand – do you speak English?”
There’s another saying that folks should know. It was used at a meeting of a “certain society” of engineers held in Boston in 1989. The phrase is:”Actores Memores Simul Affectamus Agenda.” Or, “Sometimes you have to look back to look forward.”
Alex:
I know you didn’t address me but I found your take on the new gang in town, the Germans interesting.
I used to know a few German words the guys I grew up with who served in the Army in Germany taught me. it was something like “Wie gehts? Fraulein” – “Is ben gut?” So I’m not worried about the take over.
The rest of your post reminded me of a song: “You load 16 tons, what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt, St. Peter don’t you call me because I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store.” Pretty soon we’ll all owe our soul’s the big industry and the big industry police will be around to collect.
Haha. I just gotta ask – and just outta curiousity – So these buddies of yours who served in the Army in Germany and taught you the phrase “wie ghets Freulein – is ben gut?” – did they ever tell you how successful they were with an opener like that? Ahhh, any chance you think they would ever admit to maybe hearing a lot of ” Est tut mir light – auf Weidershehen!” – or something like it – in response? Seriously, who taught them that, you didn’t really listen to ’em did you – No offense to your Army buds, but wouldn’t the better approach be to simply go in “armed” with a lot of Heinekin instead and say not a word? File Under: Some things the Germans do very right.
And as far as St. Peter is concerned, I can’t speak to St. Peter (not yet anyway – at least I don’t want to yet anyway). In point of fact, I was actually “warned” (I think? maybe? I dunno? You tell me?) once by an interesting person two years ago who said she once worked for the NSA and her roommate supposedly worked for the CIA. It was not too long before the Bulger stuff really took off and I had made a comment somewhere – she asked me if I knew my saints and particularly what they stood for. Clueless and naive about everything in life as I am, I admitted to knowing one – St. Michael. I said “St. Micheal was my guy.”
Oddly, the curious woman grew angry at that response. She asked me if I knew who St. Joseph was and what he really stood for…I asked in return, “isn’t he the guy you stick upside down in your yard when you want to sell your house?” Ahem – don’t ever answer that! She was clearly NOT amused!
She then asked me if I knew what “pax” really meant and if I also knew what “dos vidonya” meant? I admit, I am dense. I don’t know all my languages – I know my American-English fairly well, (certainly not the King’s English) plus, I know a few phrases in French, but None of those rung latter phrases rang a bell at the time. I had to look them up. Ugh.
Alas, I now feel compelled to pick up a bit of German, Hebrew, Russian etc just so I can say exercise the remainder of my first Amendment rights here in America. As far as knowing all of the Global strategic languages out there of which German is but one, I humbly apologize and admit I need an app for that. Isn’t there an “italk” app yet? (NB: Mr. Gates (which we all know derives from the German name Gatz) – could you please hurry up and get on that new app!) Seriously, when is the new language translator app coming out here in America; Japan is already way ahead of us on techno gadget capabilities like that? Think of the possibilities – We can all wear it daily as a fashionable “blue-tooth” item- maybe even in the actual color blue – or better yet in other colors and patterns so that we can buy more of them simply to match what we are wearing! As such,gGuys can pick up girls in any language and girls can program a computer response in return with a simple ja, da or yes – 0r nien, nyet or no – as they wish.)
Did you ever think your blog on Whitey would be so International and actually veer off into technological advances in e-dating? 🙂
Alex:
When I learned those phrased I was sitting on some stoop with the other kids and our friends, 18 year old paratroopers with those fancy uniforms, awed us with the knowledge about things German. I once used that expression “Wie gehts? Fraulein” to a group of women from the German government sort of as a joke. I don’ think it was well received.
I’m basically a one language guy with a little barroom Japanese from my tour of duty in Japan; a little Ukrainian from a relationship; Latin from school; a smattering of tourist type French, Italian, and Spanish words which I couldn’t put in a sentence and if I did I’d never understand the response as happened to me once in Grenada when I asked in impeccable Spanish for the location of the cathedral and stood there dumbfounded as the person spelled out the direction in Spanish.
As for Pax, I knew that; Vidonya or was it Aldona was a kid in our neighborhood; the saints I would have impressed that woman pretty well – although when you said she worked for NSA I thought you were going to tell us she had contact with one of the saints.
The translation apps, I expect they’re coming and in twenty years people from all over the world will be able to directly speak with each other but there is no way the conversations will be other than stilted. Last time I was in England I sat next to two guys I thought were speaking Urdu or some other Indian language until I listened real closely and discovered it was English.
Bill:
The people with all these new powers are your friendly neighbors who go to work everyday to the FBI and other government offices intent on protecting you. Don’t you trust them with these?
I’ll be interested in reading the Time article but I’m sure it plays down the issue. When I do I’ll have a comment on it. Thanks for calling it to my attention.
I don’t think there are anti-Americans out there. They are people with a different idea what they think the purpose of America is. Right now it seems they think that the best protection for America is to make sure the American people are adequately controlled and watched. Once these powers have been given to them they find ways to add to them. It’s like we now have the Homeland Security Police who are out there protecting us. They used to protect just the federal buildings but now they are protecting the areas and streets around the federal court houses with greater armaments and an ever expanding circle of responsibility.
The American people want to be safe. They don’t want to know what the “authorities” are doing. The FBI has been as secret police department for years and no one has squawked. More guns, more police, more crowd control, and as Commissioner Davis has stated yesterday, we are being trained by foreign police departments on how to deal with people. It’s a strange time. I’m going to do a little series on Few Bad Ideas next week as we come up to the trial and talk more about what is going on.
As we search for an ever safer society we must remember those most safe and out of danger are locked in prison cells out in ADX Colorado. Total safety and freedom are incompatible. All we must ask for is that those to whom we have delegated the duties to keep us safe do them.
Mtc9393 – mtc9393 – I just gotta ask this….Is Carmen Ortiz running for Governor? I know you do not want this site to tip into a political blog, but if Ms. Ortiz is running for Governor….
My reason for asking is that when I re-read “The Article” in the Republican on Mr. Bologna’s case being similar to Mr. Bulger’s, I stumbled on another article also in the Republican that raised Ms. Ortiz’ name as a potential candidate for governor. It was buried deep in an article in the Republican written on May 8, 2013 by Robert Rizzuto. The article was in reference to Scott Brown being the odds-on favorite and that others including Ms. Ortiz trailed by certain percentage points. Is Ms. Ortiz using the Bulger case and its potential for headlines along with her grandstanding at the Boston Marathon press conferences as a gubernatorial platform? Shouldn’t she have to declare whether she is interested in running or considering a run? What are the ethics rules with respect to that? The FBI after all recently devoted their home/webpage to announcing that their priority is to fight “public corruption” – if she is “running for governor” shouldn’t people know “up front” so that we can judge for ourselves whether she is benefiting from unwarranted headline-hunting for personal gain?
If she is using the Bulger’s to catapult her own campaign, what does that say about the “state of things in Denmark?”
Alex:
There were plans to run her for governor but Aaron Swartz pretty much did her in. Even more than that, she is not impressive in front of a microphone and has no political ability. The Boston Globe as ususal sucking up to the federal prosecutors named her woman of the year or something like that and she saw herself on the top of the world. I expect she is a little more realistic now. She didn’t do too well during the aftermath of the MTA when the FBI was saying they were using the public safety exception to the Miranda requirement to question Joker while at the same time she was fondling the microphone and announcing there was no public danger.
I don’t think she’ll get much of boost from Whitey’s case. When he’s convicted it won’t be like someone accomplished a great feat. Time will tell but I hope she doesn’t really think she has any political career. She’s probably trying to become a judge at this time.
Thank you. It’s not that I am against an AUSA running for governor, my experience tells me that there have been some who have done that successfully and to some degree used there AUSA position as a platform, but I am entirely consistent with your view that her political savvy was sub-par on the Boston Bombing situation. I also agree her career path trajectory suggests a greater potential for upward mobility as a judge.
Oh Mon Dieu! The use of the word “there” in the last comment was meant to be “their.” That’s an academic basic. I should have caught that before I hit send. A classic Grammar-Goof up. Sorry.
the boss of the Colombo family beat 6 murders one being a nypd cop, all the murders happened in the last 20 yrs. he had a public defender. Thomas gioeli, beat 6 murders but the rico conspiracy is the catch you cant beat it. he order the cops murder cause he slept with another mobster ex wife. they put the shooter of the cop on the stand no luck, plus he killed like 5 other people. but in the end when he gets sentenced the d.a. will still ask the judge to factor in the murders. bucky barrets family really got screwed in all this mess, did they file a suit. read his 2 kids jumped in front of trains.
Pat:
A couple of things: Judge Tauro in sentencing FBI Agent John Connolly used matters he was acquitted of to give him a real hard hit. It does seem strange that you can beat the charges but then get sentenced on them if you are hooked on something else. That’s how the feds operate to dispense their own “unusual form of” justice.
As to Bucky Barrett, yes it is a shame the way he was murdered. Even worse is the fate of his two kids, if that in fact happened. I’m also told that the kids of one of the gangsters who went to prison in the Deegan case also had a hard time with life. It’s something that all guys should think about when they get into the rackets that their sins may very well fall on the children. Live by crime, die by crime. There’s nothing like putting your head on the pillow at night and not fearing the cops are going to show up.