After denying a defense request to postpone the trial jury selection continued on Monday in the trial of Boston gang boss James "Whitey" Bulger, according to the Boston Globe.
The defense had attempted to get the trial delayed in order to have more time to investigate whether or not the police ignored the criminal activity of James Martorano after he had been released from prison. Martorano confessed to 20 murders but was released after only 12 years after assisting police in their case against Bulger.
Defense attorney J.W. Carney learned on Friday that there had been an investigation to find out if a state trooper had obstructed other law officers from looking into crimes Martorano may have committed after being released from prison, according to Reuters.
"This 11th-hour revelation creates an unfair prejudice to the defense," Carney said according to court transcripts. "It is substantive evidence establishing Martorano's bias and motive to lie."
After the delay was denied by Judge Denise J. Casper jury selection continued. 858 jurors were called in an attempt to find an impartial jury making it the largest jury pool ever called by a federal court in the district of Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe.
Only 70 potential jurors remained to be called back on Tuesday, including a woman that defense attorneys have argued is "way too close to the wife of a murder victim in this case." The potential juror knows the nephew of Patricia Donahue, whose husband was allegedly shot by Bulger while giving a ride home to the intended target of the killing, according to the Boston Globe.
During selection on Monday Bulger showed a compassionate side by dismissing a potential juror. After juror no. 115 explained to the court that his wife had been rushed to the hospital on Friday night and may require surgery Bulger leaned over to his lawyer and waved his hand to excuse the potential juror, according to the Boston Herald.
Bulger is being tried for a litany of crimes including 19 murders, racketeering and extortion. Bulger fled Boston in 1994 after being tipped off by an FBI agent that he was about to be arrested. Bulger has denied that he was ever an FBI informant. The 83-year-old was the inspiration for the character played by Jack Nicholson in "The Departed," according to Reuters.
Cameras have been banned from the courtroom so there is no live stream available.
