You’ve heard that the courtroom seems more like the Groundhog Day movie with Judge Bowler and J.W.Carney agreeing he is sounding like a broken record. The issue is still over discovery which should have been settled months ago with a little more cooperative effort — or at a minimum with a court appointed referee who could sit down and separate the fluff from the rest of the stuff.
We’re all of the mind that Whitey is guilty and the show should get rolling along. That certainly is the mindset of the prosecution team which just wants to get this over. So one concludes that J.W. Carney, Jr., is standing in the way. That is the right conclusion but isn’t that his job. Despite the overwhelming condemnation of his client, as I recall, he is not guilty of any of these crimes unless found guilty by a jury after a fair trial. No matter how despicable we find Whitey to be, he is entitled to that under our Constitution, at least he was the last time I looked.
I am at a loss to see why the prosecution does not see that it is also in its interest to bend over backwards to give Carney what he wants. It’s not like anything that it will furnish him will diminish its case. It’s charging Whitey with 19 murders. All it has to do is prove a couple and he’ll never get out of jail again not that he would even if acquitted of all the murders in Boston. There are still murder cases pending against him in Oklahoma and Florida. It looks like he’s going to die in jail so why rush the proceedings.
The way I look at is just by parading the following creatures in front of the jury: Steve “The Rifleman” Flemmi, John “The Murderman” Martorano, Kevin “The Brutalman” Weeks, John “The Liarman” Morris, and Francis “The Kingsmademan” Salemme and telling the jury these are Whitey’s friends will be enough to have the jury stand up and proclaim with one voice he must be guilty. Never mind adding to that the idea that among them they committed oodles of murders, some quite barbaric, without a scintilla of remorse and a couple wrote books bragging about their sordid lives. One is judged by the company he keeps. A jury looking at this crew will quickly figure out that Whitey must be guilty no matter how Judge Stearns tries to make sure that it is impartial.
What I’m suggesting is the prosecution has a rock solid case and they will eventually prevail in most of it. Whitey will be convicted and sent to ADX Florence. It should move from a position of fighting every discovery request to giving Carney what he wants, more than he wants, and move the case along.
I would think the last thing the prosecution would want and Judge Stearns would want is to let it appear that there was a rush to judgment. The prosecution has had the case prepared since before 9/11. The defense did not get it until ten years later. Delaying the trial to the fall of 2013 would be in everyone’s interest. The additional six months will save years of recriminations.
Whitey is not going anywhere. Attorney Harvey A. Silverglate a prominent legal practitioner recently suggested that if there is any concern with critical witnesses being available, a deposition of their testimony can be taken. We’ve seen much made of the death of two persons, Theresa Stanley and Tommy Ryan, a bookie from Charlestown, but they had no evidence to offer about the murders Whitey’s is alleged to have committed. Stanley, Whitey’s female companion of 40 years, said she never spoke about his business with him. Ryan, was a bookie and would know nothing about the murders. If the question arose whether Whitey was in the bookmaking business, I’d suggest that is so well-known that Judge Stearns could take judicial notice of it.
All of what is going on is important from a defense point of view. It has to contest each witness and has to know as much possible about them. That is the obligation that is placed on defense counsel’s shoulders, even if Whitey were to plea, it must be able to properly advise him of the strength of the evidence against him.
But to cut to the chase, there is really going to be one issue in this case that has any meaning. It was referred to in the Herald the other day. It is whether Whitey was given the right to commit all the crimes he is alleged to have done by someone in the U.S. Attorney’s office. I spoke about that issue previously. The Herald reported the prosecutors “scoffed at the immunity boast.” I hope that is not the case. This could be the one thing that lets Whitey escape from prison. For if he was granted immunity, then he’ll be exonerated here and in Florida and Oklahoma. I’ll discuss this more tomorrow and point out why I wouldn’t scoff at the claim.