Crime & Safety

Will James 'Whitey' Bulger Take the Stand? Defense Team Begins Arguments

The defense team plans to call 15 witnesses and could rest its case by the end of this week.

By Chris Orchard/Somerville Patch

The defense team for James "Whitey" Bulger began calling witnesses Monday after federal prosecutors, on Friday, wrapped up 30 days of testimony.

Bulger's attorneys called former FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick to the witness stand, according to media reports.

Fitzpatrick spoke about his time in Boston's FBI office in the 1980s, which he painted as an era marked by rampant corruption, according to Boston.com.

The former FBI agent told jurors he didn't think Bulger was up to the agency's standards as an informant, and he tried to raise red flags about the gangster, the news website reported.

According to BostonHerald.com, the defense team's strategy is to argue that Bulger wasn't an informant for the FBI, and that convicted former FBI agent John Connolly "fabricated Bulger's FBI file to advance his own career."

According to Boston.com, defense attorneys still haven't decided if Bulger, himself, will take the stand.

The team plans to call 15 witnesses and could rest its case by the end of this week, sending the case to the jury, the news website reported.


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