The Florida appeals decision in Connolly’s case reminds me of the story of this well-educated black man John Jackson who went to vote in Florida during its Jim Crow days where blacks were not allowed to vote unless they passed a test. The test consisted of three questions: the first he had to name the generals who were in the Mexican American war who would become presidential candidates; next he had to identify of all the Confederate generals in the Army of Virginia who fought against Grant; and the last test was to read from a book that sat on the examiners desk and explain what it means.
He passed the first two easily. When the book was shown him he looked down and saw that it was written in some type of ancient language with which he was not familiar. He said: “I’m not quite sure what it say literally but I can surmise that the gist of it is that no black man is voting in Florida this year.”
When I read the Connolly appeal upholding his conviction I felt that no way is Connolly going to get his freedom in Florida. I was astonished that majority judges could agree on the garbage that it contained. I could see the federal forces lurking over their shoulders as they voted.
Callahan was killed by Martorano who shot him in his head. Connolly was convicted of murder by gun. The gun Martorano used has no bearing on the matter.
Had Martorano strangled Callahan or poisoned him or run him over with a car, Connolly under the appeals decision was properly convicted of murder by gun. In other words no matter how Callahan was killed Connolly’s conviction was right according to these judges. Understand that if Martorano and McDonald beat Callahan with their fists killing him Connolly could properly be convicted him of murder by gun.
The reasoning of the judges is that during the planning of Callahan’s murder Connolly possessed his FBI gun. This was never shown. It was accepted that an FBI agent is supposed to carry a gun at all times. Therefore at a meeting in Massachusetts where Connolly was supposed to have told them Callahan was being targeted and would not stand up Connolly was wearing his gun so even though he was 1500 miles away and the gun never got any closer than 1500 miles to Fort Lauderdale that gun was carried during Callahan’s murder. .
Under that decision any person who handles a gun or knife while planning to commit a crime will be guilty of using that instrument at the crime even if it was not within 100 miles of it. The idea behind the law was to prevent people from committing crimes with weapons. The appeals court in its anxiety to uphold Connolly’s conviction ignored the laws intent. Under its ruling If the while planing to poison a person a defendant picked up a shotgun in a gun shop in Alaska that could be charged against him in Florida.
Obvious it makes no sense. The Florida legislature was not worried that a man planning to strangle his wife that evening used a knife to carve a turkey for the Thanksgiving meal. The Florida judges apparently think it was.
As I said when they are out to get you they will. If they don’t want you to vote then they will ask you to interpret ancient Chinese texts; if they don’t want to let you out of prison then they’ll write nonsense. That was done in Connolly’s Florida appeal. It was also done and in his appeal on the denial of his motion for a new trial when Salemme’s crucial evidence was deemed of no importance. .
Aside from all the unfairness shown to him such as targeting him because their intent was to get another, the double jeopardy, the corrupt witnesses, the undermining by the FBI, the malignant media, and the other things mentioned a basic concept of fairness dictates that Connolly be set free. He has served 15 years. He never murdered anyone.
John Martorano, Kevin Weeks, Frank Salemme, Vincent Flemmi, Pat Nee, Howie Winter, and others, all who are believed to have participated in murders or have shot people in cold blood are walking the streets free men. Connolly who never fired a gun at anyone will die in prison based on the paid evidence of some of these men. He spent over twenty-two years as an FBI agent. He was instrumental in taking down the Mafia in Boson. He retired with honor. He was abandoned by the government he served and the Bureau in which he worked.
He is the American Dreyfus wrongly incarcerated like Dreyfus through evidence of evil men who were paid witnesses. He was incarcerated because the prosecutors wanted another man.
A lonely man sitting in his Florida cell forgotten by most. His case cries out for justice. Will it be in vain?
Thank you Mr.Connolly for that you do.quick question,is the end of the line for John?or does he have any other avenue to pursue??
Outside of the task force that put Connolly in prison, who would be the most pissed off if he were released? Is there any civilian out there that would see the headline and go into a sweat?
No , It is timeless . Its import understood by a seven year old child as he lay end to end with his Great-Grandmother and they talked through the night until sunrise tinted the curtains . It can be paraphrased in her words : YOU LIVE ALONE , YOU DIE ALONE , AND IN BETWEEN YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN .
It is not Gorki. It is from the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. As a child I sang it in both English and Latin. In the latter language the words are, “Gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.” The hymn is known by Salve Regina and Hail Holy Queen. In Latin salve means “Hi” or “Hello.”The English word salve is unrelated.
The opening two lines still often bang about between my ears: “Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.” The import can be understood without Latin by most. A petition to the Governor of Florida would not be harmed by opening with an adaptation of those words.
The power of a governor to pardon or redress is meant as a counterweight to the Judiciary and its errors. It is there to be used.
Justice? Forget it. Seek mercy. Petition the governor for a pardon (though that might require an admission of guilt) and settle for a commutation of the sentence to time served. Man’s Fate is to live mourning and weeping in a valley of tears.
“Man’s Fate is to live mourning and weeping in a valley of tears.”
Is that something Maxim Gorky said?
“Justice? Forget it. Seek mercy.”
At this point justice is impossible. Mercy is all there is left. These people that are being released (new DNA evidence) after spending a decade or two in prison are not getting justice. Only mercy. True justice would give them the time they lost and everything else that has been taken away.
I’m not too keen on some definitions but I assume justice is delivered in accordance with the law. To give this man justice, in non-legal terms, one of those jigsaw puzzles that is all one color would have to be put back together by someone with no arms. Maybe one eyed and suffering vertigo, too. And admitting guilt should not be part of what is granted. Isn’t the whole point that he did not do what he is doing time for?
I do know one quote that Gorky DID say.
“The most beautiful words in the English language are ‘not guilty’.”
As I’ve said before, it’s a combination of mind numbingly sad a incredibly fucking appalling. I can’t imagine being in Johns shoes..the anger must burn with the intensity that we can’t even approach. Most people of course, think he’s guilty..of what, their not sure..wearing cufflinks, maybe? Driving a “speedboat”? Just so much horse shit.
It’s not all that rare, either..I have to admit that when it happened to another friend of mine, I just assumed he had done something…after all, the government wouldn’t lie, right. Look him up. Richard Barlow was and is a good friend, and an unlikely federal employee. He grew up in the Dakotah Building in NYC, for starters. He left what is now ICE, which he had joined in pursuit of a woman, to return to the CIA. He was a nuclear proliferation expert. One day when I called his desk, I was told he was “under investigation and wa not allowed in the building” when I called him at home, he quickly told me not to worry..when everything comes out, he’ll be ok.
I’m ashamed to admit I wasn’t sure he was being truthful. Many years later, after they ruined his life…allegations of infidelity, drug use, alcoholism, etc, which cost him his marriage, his transgression?
I found out many years later..he had the audacity to tell the truth about the Pakistan governments attempt to obtain nuclear weapons, which contradicted a general who had just testified (lied, actually) to congress. The reason? We were giving money to Pakistan to fight the Russians..those funds were contingent on Pakistan behaving..which, we now all know, they were NOT. They went as far as to tip off the target of his investigation..a high level Pakistani government official, who believed he was on the way here to make a deal to buy planes that could deliver the nukes that THEY ALREADY HAD!!
He never remarried..never had kids..he spent his life trying to clear his name..John McCain took up hi cause at one point, as have many others, but bills to pay him some small sum of money to begin to make him whole have been shot down time after time. He lives in an airstream trailer with his two hunting dogs, hunting birds…in Arizona in the Winter and Montana in the summer. He still is trying to clear his name. He’s a hero in India..suppose that makes him feel any better. Another life ruined, for what? Google Richard Barlow CIA if you think I’m nuts!
I read up on Barlow. A guy like that is probably under surveillance. I would call anyone that had that done to him as a ticking time bomb. He may never go off, but the potential is there and the boss has to keep some kind of tabs on him. How many like him are out there? I have heard many stories of people from many different agencies that have been given extremely raw deals for doing what they thought they were suppose to do.
Maybe Connolly has made a promise that no one wants him to keep.
Same old dreck . Work on motive .
Honest Abe keeps saying we must not be telling the whole story.
But we are.
Consider this, Connolly was acquitted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was convicted of second degree Murder by Gun. That count was added at the end of his trial.
The problem, the Statute of Limitations was 4 years. Callahan was killed in 1982; the Statue ran in 1986. Connolly was tried in 2008.
An Enhancement Statue extended the SOL if the following conditions were met: (Section of the Enhancement Statute is quoted in full:)
“(4) For purposes of imposition of minimum mandatory sentencing provisions of this section [Enhancement Provision], with respect to a firearm, the term “possession” is defined as carrying it on the person. Possession may also be proven by demonstrating that the defendant had the firearm within immediate physical reach with ready access with the intent to use the firearm during the commission of the offense, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
COMMENT:THE ZEALOT WYSHAK NEVER PROVED THAT CONNOLLY HELD THE GUN “the firearm”), HAD IT WITHIN IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL REACH nor INTENDED “TO USE THE FIREARM DURING THE COMMISSION OF THE OFFENSE.” Since enhancement doesn’t apply, Wyshak can’t use the Enhancement Statute’s Statute of Limitations provisions to extend the lapsed SOL of the Murder by Gun count.
Now obviously if the “intent to use the firearm” applies when it’s “within immediate physical reach” the “intent to use” also applies when it is being “held.”
No precedent in Florida or anywhere else in America could be found to convict someone under these circumstances. Florida case law required the person who held a gun be present at the scene of the shooting.
Great article. Hopefully something can be done Wasn’t Muller the head of the FBI when Connolly was framed in Florida? Was he part of the conspiracy to frame Connolly? Did he combine with the Mafia and the pernicious media to get an honest FBI agent? Shouldn’t Sessions appoint a Special Prosecutor to look at this? The Florida judges should be looked at too. There was some form of jury tampering in this case. The only reason the 2nd degree charge was added was the prosecution knew the jury was going to acquit him on the main charges. The jurors should be interviewed along with the court officers. He is the SCAPEGOAT of the DEEP STATE.
Excellent summation, Matt.
Just want to add this postscript for emphasis:
One reason I believe Wyshak, the federal prosecutor, who tried the case in Florida, is an evil man, is he allowed his killer witnesses to repeat testimony in Florida that the Boston jury rejected. For example, the Boston jury acquitted John Connolly of leaking information that led to the deaths of Halloran and Rastucci. Wyshak’s witnesses repeated those lies in Florida (Florida had no jurisdiction over those murders) and what’s worse is when the Appeals Court began its “analysis” of Connolly’s case it stated as a matter of proven fact that Connolly had leaked information that led to the murders of these two men. All the killers’ lies rejected by the Boston jury, Wyshak re-introduced in Florida, and the Appeals Court accepted them as gospel. A travesty!
I repeat for emphasis, Wyshak brought Flemmi to Florida to testify in 2008. While in jail from 1995-2002, Flemmi insisted Connolly was “an honest cop” and said so under oath. As late as 2005, under oath, Flemmi swore John Connolly never “suggested” “directly” or “indirectly” that anyone be killed. (David Boeri reported this.) Yet Wyshak and the Feds ignored all of it, and put all the lying killers back on the stand in Florida to lie again, lies polished up by Wyshak.
A grave, grotesque travesty!
Am I stupid? (Not a rhetorical question)
My only other question, and I assume that it has been answered in these posts and replies many times but I am missing it, is: Why?
Is this the South Africa of P. W. Botha or the Haiti of Papa Doc? With all of this clear, concise, liberating evidence, why is he in jail? How can this evidence that has been laid out by you in such a blatant manner not be obvious to those that keep him in prison? Or the ones that are above those people? It can’t be that absurd and be the law.
I described these events to my cousin last week. She was assistant DA in Dade County for many years and during Connolly’s time in court. All she would say is that there had to be more to the story. And I didn’t take her to task. She is too tough for me.
Was she wrong? I guess that will be my last question.
Great reporting, Matt. Thoroughly interesting and thought provoking.
Out of the mouths of babes and assistant Dade County D.A.’s who are babes . Obviously , she nailed it . This is why JC has been silent , in all likelihood .
” Come on , Jake , it’s Chinatown ”
Words spoken to P.I. Jake Geddes closing John Huston’s CHINATOWN .
Thanks for your interesting, well written article Matt but I thought Vincent Flemmi was deceased by now as you mention in the article that he is walking the streets.
What is your understanding of Frank Lepere’s ties to Bulger and Flemmi?
Was the Winter Hill Gang less hierarchical than the Patriarca crime family?
Was the deceased providence mobster nicknamed the Saint one of the sources that the FBI used to bug the induction ceremony?
Florida has been like that since the height of the eighties drug war. The G might as well annex it to the District of Columbia.