Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger Page #13

is important is for a couple of reasons.

One, the government has an impression

to try and create for the public,

they want to present a theory

of minimal amount of corruption

that is quarantined with John Connolly,

based on a rogue agent theory

and an improper handler who formed

a relationship with James Bulger.

That's what they've been

trying to do for decades

in every litigation they've had.

It's not true.

The truth is that James Bulger

was not an informant.

And the reason why it's dangerous

for the Department of Justice

to recognize the fact

that he wasn't an informant

is that if Mr. Bulger was just paying

a dozen people on the FBl,

as he was, and headquarters

didn't do anything about it,

and the supervision wasn't there,

and they didn't do the yearly reports,

they didn't do the yearly reviews,

it then calls into question

all the affidavits that he's on.

It calls into question

all the convictions they had.

Think about the implications.

Think about what happened

in the 1980s.

The crown jewel of the Department

of Justice was to get the Italian Mafia.

They wanted to infiltrate

the headquarters of the Angiulo's

on Prince Street in the north end.

They needed affidavits,

And what did they do?

They used James Bulger's name

even though we now know that he

didn't give them any information.

Their own witnesses will admit that he

was simply added on to search warrants

and affidavits as a courtesy

to John Connolly.

So what would happen when

the federal government admits

that he wasn't part

of these search warrants?

Every attorney who represented every

mobster would sue the federal government.

They lose all their convictions,

they lose all the jail time,

and all the sentences.

All these accolades

that attorneys and lawyers

and FBI agents earned,

their reputations they earned,

would be gone.

They're not going to give that up,

and probably most importantly,

is the civil liability

to the families.

That's why you have this

resounding unrest with the

with the families.

They've lost loved ones

and at some point there has to be closure.

They are entitled to closure as citizens.

This government will give them

no closure because they have

this pretense they have to keep for

their own image that James Bulger

is an informant rather

than saying we sanctioned this,

not just with James Bulger,

we sanctioned organized crime figures

to go out and kill.

And we protected them

and we did it before, we did it here,

and we're going to do it again,

we have done it again.

They can't admit that.

So these families suffer over

and over and over again

with never getting the answer.

Are they going to overturn convictions

and let everybody go?

Are they going to be civilly liable

for their lies? Are they going to

prosecute themselves?

It's never going to happen.

So he has to be an informant.

Woman:
Prosecutors and defense attorneys

for Boston mobster James Whitey Bulger

get their last chances today

to try to persuade jurors

in Bulger's murder

and racketeering trial.

WBUR's David Boeri joins us

this morning. Good morning.

Good morning, Deb.

Okay, now both sides get three hours

to sum up their cases.

What are they going to do

with all that time?

An extraordinary amount

of time, that's for sure.

And, as a matter of fact, the government

said it needed more time.

Wyshak:
James Bulger is one of

the most vicious, violent,

and calculating criminals ever to

walk the streets of Boston.

It doesn't matter whether or not

Mr. Bulger was an FBI informant.

Whether he's an FBI informant or not,

he's guilty of murder.

Carney:
There are three witnesses

to the murders,

Martorano, Weeks, Flemmi.

What I submit to you is

the critical issue in this case,

whether you can believe

Martorano, Weeks, and Flemmi

beyond a reasonable doubt.

Wyshak:
This trial is not about

whether or not the FBI in Boston

was a mess. It's not a referendum

on whether or not Kevin Weeks

and John Martorano should be spending

the rest of their lives in jail.

It's about whether or not

the defendant is guilty of the crimes

charged in the indictment.

He's the one on trial here,

not the government,

not the FBl, James Bulger.

Brennan:
We think about our

government as this institution,

this faceless organization.

Our government is not them,

our government is us.

At what point as citizens do we say,

"You know what,

there has to be accountability?"

You tell them that.

Boeri:
I've been on this story

for so long, and I've never seen

such depravity in a courtroom.

We have a situation where

an institution of the government

decided that in order

to achieve a goal,

which was questionable at best,

they decided who was going to live,

and they decided

who was going to die.

And they empowered those people

that were carrying out terror,

they empowered them,

they gave them the run of the city.

That was lawlessness

by the government.

That is what we can never forget,

and that's why...

That's why I'm proud

to have done this story.

Because it's just, it's something

you can't forget.

And memory is really important.

You know, memory is a political act,

and I think as reporters

you got to keep the memory,

even if other people aren't.

Woman:
The United States

v. James J. Bulger is over.

Man:
This trial's been going on

for two months.

This jury has been deliberating

the last five days.

Woman:
The jury has made a decision

in this case and we are waiting

to see exactly what it is.

Man:
Whitey Bulger faces possible

maximum life in prison,

we say the caveat, this man

is 83 years of age.

Woman 2:
Bulger is standing right now

in the courtroom

as he hears the words to count one

for racketeering conspiracy: guilty.

Woman 3:
For count two, we're just

waiting here for word out of the courtroom,

that it is a guilty verdict as well

on count two.

Now within the second one

were all of these acts,

that include all of the acts of murder.

Racketeering act number one,

that was not proven.

Man:
For racketeering act number two

we're hearing that is not proved.

Racketeering act number three,

not proved.

Number four, not proved.

Five, not proved.

Woman:
Narcotics

distribution conspiracy.

Man 2:
That is proved.

Woman:
The extortion of Stephen

Stippo Rakes and Julie Rakes.

Man:
We're waiting on this.

That is proved.

Man 2:
The conspiracy to murder

Roger Wheeler:
proved.

Man 3:
The murder of John Callahan

is also proved.

Man 4:
Next the murder

of Brian Halloran: proved.

Woman:
Then we have the murder

of Michael Donahue.

Man:
Proved.

Murder of Deborah Hussey.

Man 2:
Proved.

Woman:
The next one,

very important for Stephen Davis,

the murder of Deborah Davis,

no finding.

Man:
Whitey Bulger was convicted

on 31 out of 32 counts

of racketeering, conspiracy,

murder, extortion,

and other charges.

Woman:
But the jury found that

the government only proved

the murders of 11 of Bulger's

19 alleged victims.

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