Adam Reilly is reporting on the "Whitey" Bulger trial for WGBH News. What follows are his notes from the courtroom the day:
Very slow going in the Whitey Bulger trial thus far today.
The defense is continuing its lengthy cross-examination of James Marra, who works for the Department of Justice's Inspector General and was used by the government to introduce Bulger's 700-plus-page FBI file.
Earlier today, defense attorney Hank Brennan repeatedly forced Marra to acknowledge the limits of his knowledge of that file. For example, Brennan pointed out that Marra didn't pursue other Bulger-related materials that might have been stored elsewhere by the FBI and that he made no efforts to independently confirm the veracity of reports allegedly provided by Bulger, even though the unreliability of Bulger's FBI handlers has long been common knowledge.
Before Judge Denise Casper called a morning recess, Brennan introduced multiple Bulger-related documents that Marra acknowledged he couldn't recall seeing. The gist was twofold: Marra (the defense suggested) doesn't know as much about Bulger's file as the government wants the jury to think, and the file itself is far from authoritative.
John Morris, the disgraced former head of the Boston FBI, did not take the stand today.
On Greater Boston, I talk with Emily Rooney about the defense and prosecution's arguments about Bulger's FBI informant status.
