Not much going on. Solimando was pretty much put through his direct examination over again. It was shown maybe he was friendlier to Jimmy Martorano than he wanted to let on and maybe he knew Callahan was more involved with organized crime than he let on and that on a prior occasion he said something that contradicted what he said today. Brennan stayed away from the incident of Triple O’s which is the event that would most stand out in the juror’s mind about how Bulger kept pistol in his face and he’d ask that he move it away which he’d do and then put it back into his face.
I’ve said before this testimony really hurt because this guy was not one of the hoods. Why it is damaging is it goes along with what the other not so bad gangsters told wherein they testified that everybody feared Whitey and no one did business in South Boston without his permission. That’s the undertone that is growing slowly louder in the case that this guy Whitey was quite vicious in keeping control of things. It will follow from that in the minds of the jurors that he is very capable of committing the crimes he is accused of doing.
The prosecutors are weaving a web slowly around Whitey which like a spider is slowly encircling him. Carney and Brennan (C&B) , despite their valiant efforts can only do so much for they really are being buried under an avalanche of evidence. It is only though their brilliance that there are bits and pieces of doubt that remain that they can tempt one or two jurors with but if this keeps up even that will not be enough.
I mentioned the defenses Whitey might have at hand yesterday. Now I see even those slipping away from him and he might be coming down to one defense I failed to mention which I thought of last night. It is the Skippy Adamski defense. I used it when I was in the 7th grade at Boston Latin when I brought home my multicolored report card of black and red. In order to appease my parents I would suggest to them that although I had a lot of red failing marks, my report card was not as bad s Skippy Adamski’s. I could never figured out why that didn’t please them.
That’s about all C & B can realistically do. One of them will have to stand in front of the jury and say, “You think Whitey is bad, did you see how bad Murderman is? Or Flemmi?”
Look it’s not their fault that’s all they have left with doing, that’s the hand that was dealt to them. They’re playing seven card Texas Hold’em and are only being dealt one card and for all I know Whitey, who is really the guy in charge, won’t even let them see that card.
After Solimando stepped down Roger Wheeler’s daughter testified about her father who was killed in Tulsa. I felt bad for her since her father seemed like he was at the top of his game as a legitimate business man and then having his life snuffed out by these gangsters. She surprised me with her testimony that he was interested in selling the business but Dick Donovan, John Callahan’s buddy, could not come up with the money. This gives lie to what others have said that he refused to sell. I have to say to myself if the gangsters wanted his business why didn’t they just buy it. They certainly had plenty of cash around. Got to think that one through.
After she testified Donald Defago a former Customs Officer came in. He did little to advance the ball telling mostly of John McIntyre and really not connecting Whitey to him. But when you’re ahead 56 to 0, you can start bringing in guys that don’t necessary move the ball but look pretty. Carney cross-examined him and got as much out of him as he could. He tried to get into a history of the British unjust control over the six northern provinces of Ireland but the judge wasn’t interested in that.
Finally Joe Saccardo appeared to identify Deborah Hussey. I haven’t seem him for years and hardly recognized him. He plays into the Naimovich story.
That was it. Neither here nor there. You do get those moments in a trial.
Hi Matt
Maybe my TV knowledge of trials is insufficient, but doesn’t the prosecution have to prove more than that he was capable? They have proven he hung around with murderers – is that enough for a conviction? Aside from liars’ testimony, all objective evidence seems pointed at confirming cause of death, victim identity.
Another thought. If Wheeler ready to sell, the only guy without the cash would be Rico. Did he hire Martorano?
Snowflake:
The prosecution has to prove he did the murders or assisted in doing them. Being a bad guy is not enough. I may not have been clear but we have evidence from Murderman and Fortnight that puts Whites in as the murderer or an accessory to it (in the crash car). The jury hs that evidence. It has to decide whether to believe it. One of the things that would help me if I were as juror is to know that he is the type of guy who is not only said to have done the murder but also is capable of doing it. That he was feared by some of the tough guy witnesses and he stuck guns in people’s faces goes a long way to supporting the tuth of what the witnesses testified to.
I’m back and forth on Rico. Sometimes I think he’s getting a bad rap, other times I don’t. With respect to the Wheeler murder I think it was between Callahan and his good friend Murderman Martorano. I didn’t even see Winter Hill north (Whitey and Benji Ditchman) involved. It sounded like Wheeler wanted 20 milliaon up front and the rest over time – they should have been able to raise that much money – how they thought murder was the solution just tells me how little they thought things throug.
Solimando if a friemd of Gucci’s brother, a made man in the Mafia, and a buddy of Callahan, not an honest businessman, doesn’t seem to be an on the level guy. Wise guys don’t extort money from legit guys because legit guys can go to the police. Solimando didn’t. His claim of being on the up and up is suspect. Thus his credibility is impacted. 2. Your assessment of the various defenses available was fascinating. Another one may be the Johnny Cochran defense. ” If the DNA ( glove) don’t fit you must acquit”. The Desalvo case fifty years old got resolved with DNA. 3. If C and B can get the Pat Nee you-tube video into evidence it will show that Nee was a capable man with a gun. He is the prime suspect in the Killeen and O’Sullivan killings. All bodies are buried at his brothers house. Substitute Nee for WB and all is the same. In the video Nee claims that he shot Daley because Daley killed his brother. Is Daley still alive? Is Hogan still alive? Who are the witnesses going to blame the old guy whose been gone for years or the local killers walking the streets? 4.According to the Rusdie book ” Joseph Anton” Shelley said that writers were the unacknowledged legislators of the world. Literary art could pose a counterweight to power. This claim was made at a NY conference in the eighties .But he laments that twenty years on in a dumbed down and frightened world it may not be the case. Is that what we face with Todashev? A public that is too ignorant or intimidated by the Feds to ask questions? Keep up the good work. Flemmi will be interesting.
1, Disagree about Solimando – you would disagree with yourself if you saw him testify – seemed 100% absolutely on the level – you don’t go to the cops if the wise guys threaten to wipe out your family and you have to do business in the city.
2. The DNA fits all right. The women experts who have testified have all been excellent. Fine teachers for a jury.
3. Your are right you could put Nee into all of these murders – maybe that is what the defense will do – they pretty much left it alone on cross without even hinting to that effect. Daley is still alive the last I heard. Hogan went off to war and became a Hero. You always blame the guy who is gone or locked up for life. No one ever fingers a looming threat – even Solimando was smart enough not to do that.
4. Thanks for your nice words. It will be left to the writers to alert the people but that means you’ll have to hope the people will read. It’s hard to get people interested with all the other things that demand their attention. Everyone hopes it’ll never happen to them so they keep their head down and struggle on. There are not many, fortunately some are on this blog, who want to stay involved in things with the hope by persisting others will raise their heads up and join in.
5. Benji Ditchman will be interesting but I hope the cross is sufficiently brutal to expose the soul of this man – I would say heart but someone cut it out of him a log time ago.