As I understand it when you go to a concert to see a star act you usually have to sit through what they call warmup acts. They’re designed to keep the crowd under control while offering a small bit of entertainment. That’s what happened today.
The star act will be between J.W. Carney and Kevin Weeks. That should begin tomorrow around 11:00 a.m.. The warmup acts we had today were supposed to be a brief appearance by William Haufler and the somewhat longer Wyshak/Weeks introduction. Haufler wasn’t brief; and Kelly took over for Wyshak and is still going on.
Hauffler in direct exam testified he knew Kevin Weeks and he stored a safe and a locker box for him in his parents’ house in Southie (which we know contained lots of guns and goodies like silencers, clips, handcuffs, etc.) and dealt drugs with Kevin and knew Whitey but never said more than “how yah doin” to him. The direct was short and sweet.
Brennan got up and did a tap dance on him which added a lot of zest to the act. Hauffler lied his way through a lot of Brennan’s examination. After explaining he was Weeks’s right hand man and he was part of a group of four or more guys, he then decided he didn’t want to dime out any of his friends so he said he’d buy a half-kilo of cocaine a week, cut it by himself and then distribute it by himself which most people would find impossible. He said he split the money with Kevin. The other guys had nothing to do with his drug business, they just sold alcohol at his after hours joint. He was very obviously straying far away from the truth.
Brennan had to remind him that his deal with the prosecutors was to tell the truth. The prosecutors weren’t going to remind him. They were happy that he was dissembling. It seems odd when we’re supposed to believe the prosecutors are after the truth.
Brennan basically used Hauffler to show he was a big drug dealer and involved in other criminal acts such a being a bookie. He had him admit he knew that what he was keeping for Kevin in the safe and locker box was probably something illegal. He admitted he was given “a wink and a nod” by the DEA agents to the effect that if he went along with them searching where he hid the items that Kevin said he had, then he would not be charged with any offenses.
This will just be another example of the federals picking and choosing who to prosecute. It’ll show they were taking good care of people like Kevin Weeks and his friends. It will all be part of arguing Kevin had to testify a certain way to please the prosecutors to save his friends.
Kelly wisely decided not to redirect. He then put Weeks on the stand. Weeks was not himself at first seeming to be very nervous and unsettled. But that didn’t last too long. He eventually settled in to telling his life of crime under the direction of James Bulger. It’s easy to tell when Weeks is comfortable by watching his demeanor. When his eyes follow counsel and he appears to be considering his answers and correcting little misstatements by the prosecutor I knew he’d come into his element and had on his game face. The uneasiness caused by the nearness of his mentor Jimmy (Whitey) had slowly molted under the subtler reminder of Brian Kelly that if he didn’t stick to the script they planned to drop the courthouse on him.
Week told how he wrote his book Brutal for the families of the victims. He thought that would be the only way to help them out or some bs like that. “What a good guy!” we’re supposed to think. His share turns out to be 41.5% and he’ll give the victims 1/2 of that.
Then I think he said he didn’t read the book. That’s the same line Martorano gave. It protects them in cross-examination. He can say, “I never said that, my co-author did.”
Weeks also answered he never got any money from the prosecution. I guess he forgot the lottery ticket winning that they had taken from him and restored after he began to cooperate.
Weeks did a lousy job tying Whitey into the guns found in the screened house behind Stevie Flemmi’s mother’s saying he took them from George Kaufman and gave them to Steve on a rainy night. Whitey had seen the guns before at Kaufman’s house but had nothing to do with their removal to Flemmi’s. The best he could say was that afterwards Whitey asked him if everything worked out OK.
He nailed Whitey on the guns found in Hauffler’s house. Those were the ones staring the jury in the face on the table in the courtroom. He told how they oiled and greased them together at his parents’ house and how Whitey checked them out to make sure they were what he wanted.
There was a piece of paper that Weeks looked at. It referred to George McLaughlin. He said it was in Whitey’s handwriting. I can’t figure out the significance of that yet. George was one of the McLauglin brothers who fought Winter hill and lost. He lost his two brothers during the war – I think he died in bed. (He’s also the guy FBI Agent Paul Rico and three other agents were going to kill with a throwaway gun because McLaughlin said Rico and J. Edgar Hoover were gay and had something going on. That tale was told by Frankie Salemme a Mafia boss. The few that believed his fairy tales were prosecutors who used him as a witness, members of Congress, and some judges.)
I’ll continue in a minute with another post since I’ve exceeded my self-imposed blog limit for a post. I try to keep them between 600 and 1,000 words so you won’t fall asleep before getting to the end.
BTW Matt-You are aware that this blog, in all it’s iterations,side-bars and commentary, has to be turned into a book. This stuff is far more engrossing than all the absurd, repetitive and self-serving silage being produced by the local “Whitey is Public Enemy One” cottage industry of hackneyed reporters turned best selling authors. Absolutely fascinating.My deep thanks
Chaco:
Thanks. There are a lot of gems here especially in the comments. It would be nice to condense it someday but that way down the road and by that time few will be interesting so we have to enjoy it while it continues along
This case is turning into the Theater of the Absurd. Morris apologizes to the Donahue family for leaking information that led to Michael’s killing. Weeks was reported to say that someone leaked facts to WB that led to the Halloran and Donahue deaths. That testimony is patently false. As judge Dupuis said it’s rare for anyone to make bail on a first degree murder case. So how does an OC hitman make it unless he is co operating. Halloran was out on bail for months before he was killed. Everyone knew what was up. No leak ever took place regarding Halloran. Morris and Weeks are blatant liars and the prosecutors know it. 2. It was apparent that NAIMOVICH’S NAME WAS NOT PULLED OUT OF A HAT. He was fed to the Feds by Foley. In order to protect his own hide he gave up an innocent man. Foley will always be known as the Judas Ascariot of the State Police.
N.
1. I was thinking of Morris’s contrived and lame apology. It wasn’t accidental. It was a trap laid by Morris and the prosecutors. I don’t know if the jury fell for it but the media sure did. It shows how easily they are manipulated. it will be nice to see Carney’s take on this.
2. You keep trying to get the Feds off the hook for Naimovich. Foley was a young trooper. Naimovich was a target by the C-3 unit of the FBI. Stick with me until you see the end of the story.
Neal and Matt,
I want to make sure I understand Neal’s point #1. Is the argument that Morris’s apology was a trap to make the jury believe that Halloran’s murder was the result of someone leaking to Whitey/Winter Hill that Halloran was cooperating, as opposed to the more likely case that Halloran being on bail after a murder charge would have been the giveaway and thus there was no need for a leak? Is this supposed to absolve Connolly or someone else who is being accused of the leak?
Jon:
I suggested Morris’s apology was a trap in the sense it gave Morris a chance to pretend he was bothered by what he had done with the hope by doing that some of the jurors would feel sorry for him and buy into some of his stories.Also Morris and the prosecutors want people to believe Whitey learned Halloran was cooperating from Connolly through Morris. This seeming admission gives a boost to their assertion.
Neal’s point with which I agree – basically because the gangsters on the street depend on the street for their information – is that Whitey could have learned Halloran’s cooperation from many different sources than the only one the government is putting forth.
There’s a lot more to this than being on bail. Halloran had been wired and approached Callahan at least twice and tried to get something incriminating against him but Callahan avoided other than the most general talk which gave rise to the belief that Callahan knew he was cooperating. Who then told Callahan or did he too pick it up from his street friends.
Keep in mind, we only have Weeks saying Whitey did the murders. Maybe Weeks is lying.
Thanks Matt.
Matt- You don’t have the capability of putting us to sleep!!! Your much appreciated.
Doubting:
You’re very nice to suggest that.