Defense considers putting Connolly on stand

But conviction would be revealed

Former FBI agent John Connolly (left) and his lawyer, Bruce Fleicher, listened as Stephen Flemmi testified last month. (Associated Press/Pool)

A Miami jury has been offered a stark view of Boston's underworld, FBI corruption, and murder in the past month from a trio of deadpan killers and a disgraced ex-FBI supervisor who wept on the stand.

After 17 days of startling testimony, it will be the defense's turn to call witnesses when jurors return to court Tuesday for the murder trial of retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., who is accused of plotting with informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, to kill a Boston businessman in 1982.

The most crucial decision for the defense, according to legal specialists, is whether the 68-year-old Connolly, once a highly decorated star in the FBI's Boston office, should take the stand.

If he does, then jurors, who have not been told that Connolly is serving 10 years in prison for racketeering, will be informed that the former agent is a convicted felon, according to his lawyers. But if Connolly remains silent, jurors may wonder why a seemingly respected federal law enforcement agent would not personally defend himself against allegations made by a cast of criminals.

"It's his decision," said Manuel L. Casabielle, one of Connolly's Miami trial lawyers, adding that Connolly has yet to decide.

Boston criminal defense attorney Robert A. George, who has represented a number of high-profile clients and has no involvement in Connolly's case, said, "There are tremendous pros and there are equally tremendous cons to Connolly taking the witness stand. It's really a toss-up."

On the pro side, Connolly is the only one who can assert his innocence and explain his dealings with Bulger and Flemmi and why some of the witnesses might have a motive to lie about him, George said.

But, he said, jurors might disregard Connolly's testimony once they learn that he is a convicted felon. He was found guilty in federal court in Boston in 2002 of racketeering, obstruction of justice, and making a false statement to the FBI.

"The defense's best version of events is that they want the jury to believe that you have this stellar FBI agent . . . who is being unjustly accused by people who have done nothing in their life but evil," George said. "If the jury hears about the racketeering conviction, they can completely disregard everything he says and hold it against him."

George said he never puts a defendant on the witness stand, unless the evidence against him is so overwhelming he has "nothing to lose" by testifying.

Connolly could face life in prison if convicted.

The former agent, who retired from the FBI in 1990 after 22 years, is accused of murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the 1982 gangland slaying of Boston business consultant John B. Callahan.

Flemmi, who is serving a life sentence for 10 murders, testified last month that Connolly warned him and Bulger that Callahan was being sought for questioning by the FBI and most likely "wouldn't hold up" and would implicate the gangsters in the 1981 slaying of a Tulsa businessman.

Hit man-turned-government witness John Martorano testified that he lured Callahan to Florida and shot him at Bulger's and Flemmi's request. Callahan's bullet-riddled body was found Aug. 2, 1982, in the trunk of his Cadillac at Miami International Airport.

Connolly is only charged with Callahan's murder. But prosecutors have been allowed to present a mountain of evidence spanning several decades in a bid to prove he was corrupt. Flemmi testified that he and Bulger gave Connolly $235,000 in payoffs, and that the agent routinely protected them from prosecution and leaked information that prompted them to kill two other men, who were FBI informants.

Retired FBI supervisor John Morris, who was granted immunity from prosecution, testified that he pocketed $7,000 in bribes from Bulger and Flemmi and that Connolly had arranged the payments.

The defense has portrayed Connolly as a decorated agent who helped decimate the New England Mafia by recruiting Bulger, Flemmi, and other dangerous criminals as informants against the mob in the 1970s and 1980s when the Mafia was the FBI's top target.

"We want the jury to see John is not some lone cowboy FBI agent," Casabielle said. "He was doing what the FBI wanted him to do. He says he did his job and did it honorably."

The defense plans to call a number of retired FBI agents, including several who Flemmi accused of taking payoffs. If Connolly were to take the stand, jurors would be told of his prior convictions, but it is unclear whether the details would be disclosed, Casabielle said.

Flemmi testified earlier that Connolly warned him and Bulger to flee on the eve of their 1995 racketeering indictment, but Flemmi "procrastinated" and got arrested, while Bulger slipped away. Bulger, now wanted for 19 murders, remains a fugitive on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

Jurors weren't told that in 2002 a federal jury in Boston found Connolly guilty of tipping off the gangsters to their indictment, and obstructing efforts to convict the pair. The jury acquitted Connolly of leaking information that prompted Bulger and Flemmi to kill three people, including Callahan. Flemmi didn't testify in that case. And neither did Connolly, who later said he regretted not taking the stand.

"He didn't take the stand in his first trial and look what happened there," said Needham attorney Timothy M. Burke, who has represented numerous police officers. He said jurors are going to want to hear Connolly's version of what happened, and if he doesn't take the stand, they will wonder why he would "sit there mute with no response to these hired killers."

He said he would advise Connolly to "roll the dice, take the stand."