Whitey Bulger
Credit: Hand out
As hundreds of potential jurors start to report to federal court in South Boston Tuesday to possibly decide the fate of alleged mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, some of the last minute motions filed by prosecutors and the defense team will likely remain undecided.
While Judge Denise Casper resolved some of the loose ends during a hearing Monday, other issues remain pending.
Those issues include the allowing of Bulger’s lawyers to bring up during trial former Bulger associate Kevin Weeks’ polygraph. Casper also left up to both sides to work out an issue over the handing over of evidence. Bulger’s lawyers want access to the former fugitive’s file that is kept at FBI headquarters. Prosecutors said they have available Bulger’s file from the FBI’s Boston office.
However, after Bulger’s lawyers argued that having the file kept at headquarters was crucial, prosecutors said they would work to secure it and discuss it with the defense team.
The unresolved issues will either be decided by Casper in the coming days or will be argued by both sides later in the week.
Meanwhile, as lawyers argued over the unresolved issues, a clean-shaven Bulger sat between his defense team. He stared straight ahead, expressionless and with his arms crossed for much of the pre-trial hearing.
On Tuesday, Casper is expected to address the first group of people that make up the hundreds in the jury pool. Those people will spend their day answering a questionnaire. Later in the week, lawyers will review those questionnaires, potential jurors will be further interviewed and a panel of 18 jurors – including six alternates – will be seated. Casper is hoping to have that done by the end of this week and start the trial next Monday.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
