Here’s the full jury question courtesy of Alysha Polumbo of NECN to help clarify: “Your honor, we need something clarified in order to reach a consensus among all jurors regarding some of the acts. In the indictment there are some charges that name multiple people with the defendant. If the jurors believe one of the other people named is guilty, are we to AUTOMATICALLY find the defendant guilty (or proved) solely based on the fact that the names are connected in the indictment?”
The judge sent back a three page response to the question.
Sweet Laurel of the Herald provided us with a portion of the judge’s answer which read: ““Even if, as your question suggests, you were to believe that another person named in the indictment is guilty of a particular Racketeering Act, you may not automatically find that particular Racketeering Act has been proven against this defendant, Mr. Bulger, solely based on the fact that the names are connected in the indictment. Instead, you must consider the jury instructions.”
As I noted previously, and I would guess the judge mentioned they should consider those parts of the instruction relating to co-conspirator and aider and abettor. If the jury finds Whitey was either of those then he too is as guilty as the person they believe did the murders.
The jurors must now be debating how involved Whitey was in doing the murders. I say the murders because that seems to be the focus of the question which had the words “or proved” and that the judge answered with reference to the racketeering indictment.
The judge could have, I don’t know if she did or not, suggested to the jurors that in the thirty-two particular acts in the racketeering indictment if the jurors could not reach a consensus they can skip over it and leave it neither proven or not proven. If she made that clear to them and suggested that they really only needed to find two of those underlying acts proven that would be enough for them to report back to the court because only two are necessary for a finding of guilty to the racketeering charge.
Perhaps on the verdict slip there should have been a third option. The jurors can check off “proven” or “not proven” but should also have been given the choice “neither proven or not proven.” Recall it was the first question the jury asked involved this matter.
I’d have to expect the jury will come in later today. The jurors are talking, they are tired, and I suppose they’ll say “let’s get the hell out of here” believing they discussed it enough and it is time to go home. What matters they can’t decide upon they’ll leave blank or they’ll just give in to the obstructionists and find them not proven just to get free.
Let’s say 3:00 p.m. at the latest for the verdict in #Bulger.
Looks like we have a new career carved out for you Matt as
a investigative journalist. When you find time look at what
FBI agents did to Michael Hastings who wrote the story that outed
General Petreaus. Hastings last contact before he died was FBI agents were closing in on him. see
http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=36590
In today’s news
see link for full story
http://www.mainjustice.com/2013/08/12/suit-triggered-by-petraeuss-affair-accuses-fbi-of-a-smear-campaign/
Suit Triggered by Petraeus’s Affair Accuses FBI of a Smear Campaign
August 12, 2013 3:43 pm
United States military leaders sometimes use the bloodless euphemism “collateral damage” to describe what happens to civilians unlucky enough to be in the vicinity when rockets, bombs or artillery shells land. The term could also be applied to Jill Kelley and her husband and children, according to a lawsuit against the federal government in the fallout over the indiscretions of Gen. David H. Petraeus.
Jill Kelley and her husband have filed suit against various figures in Washington over leaks in the scandal that ultimately took down former Gen. David Petraeus.
Kelley was instrumental in revealing that Petraeus was having an affair with Paula Broadwell, his much younger protegee and biographer, a misstep that forced Petraeus to resign as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in November 2012 in a sad end to his brilliant Army and government career.
Earlier in 2012, Kelley had received threatening emails, which she reported to federal authorities, who traced them to Broadwell, who lives in North Carolina. But for doing the right thing by helping the authorities, the Kelleys, who live in Tampa, Fla., have been harassed and smeared by people in power, according to a 65-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The complaint accuses the FBI and Director Robert S. Mueller III, the Department of Defense and unknown “John Does” and “Jane Does” of violating the Kelleys’ right to privacy by snooping through the couple’s email, instead of conducting a narrow search to determine the sender of the abusive messages, and of trashing the Kelleys’ previously outstanding reputation as civic-minded people. (Jill Kelley’s husband, Scott, is a surgeon.)
Perhaps most bizarrely, according to the complaint, Mrs. Kelley was abducted from her home on July 12, 2012, by FBI agents who refused to let her call an attorney, then drove her around while asking her “bewildering questions” about her relationship not only with Petraeus but about Gen. John Allen of the Marine Corps, formerly the top American commander in Afghanistan. After the harrowing automobile ride, the agents deposited Mrs. Kelley at the Tampa airport without her luggage, the complaint states. (She had been planning to fly out of Tampa that day.)
In fact, the Kelleys’ complaint says, Broadwell had no reason to be jealous of Mrs. Kelley, who never had an affair with Petraeus or Allen, both of whom Mrs. Kelley knew socially, or anyone else. Allen, who became entangled in the mess after he received an email disparaging Mrs. Kelley, was exonerated after an investigation but chose to retire anyhow, citing personal reasons and his wife’s health.
MS:
Guilty! I am guilty of forgetting the FBI’s role in the KelleyPetraeus affair. I wrote about it last November (go to my site and put in Petraeus in the search box and you’ll find 3 articles back then).
To me that was outrageous what the FBI did – but as usual nothing ever is done about it. I’m in decompression time but we’ll see where it takes me into the future. I’ve got lots of catching up to do in many areas.
He made a good fight of it. I’m hoping Jim makes it to FMC Rochester. (Father Pat Mahoney says hello). Around the track he’ll go, wheeled by his admirers. His books could well be miraculously topped off at the BOP limit of 5K. Full-up on phone creds, and, commissary, he’d be styling. An FMC final destination would be the best of possible outcomes for the old rogue.
Khalid:
He should be so lucky. He will be in ADX Colorado by Thanksgiving. They are preparing his turkey dinner for him now – on slice of turkey, no gravy, a small boiled potatoe and three string beans.
Matt: more backstory for you
One stop shopping dealing with crimes committed by FBI agents
http://thefbifiles.com/
MS:
Thanks.