Federal judge rejects Connolly's bid for new trial; appeal planned
In a crushing blow to retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., a federal judge yesterday refused his bid for a new trial, rejecting claims that he'd been unfairly convicted of racketeering for protecting longtime informants James ''Whitey" Bulger and Stephen ''The Rifleman" Flemmi.
US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro didn't offer a written opinion explaining his reasons. Instead, his clerk entered a one-line notation on the court docket yesterday indicating that Connolly's motion had been denied.
''It's shocking that he would deny the motion that's before him without even a written opinion being entered," said one of the three lawyers representing Connolly, E. Peter Mullane of Cambridge.
Mullane said he'll appeal Tauro's ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He also said that if Tauro doesn't follow up his order with a written opinion, the appeals court could send the case back with a request for detailed findings.
Connolly, 65, who retired from the FBI in 1990, was convicted in May 2002 of racketeering, obstruction of justice, and lying to an FBI agent for protecting Bulger and Flemmi for years.
Jurors found that Connolly warned Bulger, Flemmi, and their codefendant, former New England Mafia boss Francis ''Cadillac Frank" Salemme, in advance of their 1995 federal racketeering indictment. Bulger is a fugitive.
Connolly, who is serving a 10-year prison term on the federal charges, was indicted in May on state murder charges in Florida for allegedly helping Bulger and Flemmi orchestrate the 1982 slaying of John Callahan, a Boston financier with ties to Bulger's gang. The trial is slated for Feb. 21 in Miami, and if Connolly is convicted, he would face life in prison. Flemmi, who is serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering, is slated to testify against Connolly.
But even as Connolly sits in a Miami jail, his lawyers have been fighting to get his federal conviction overturned. They filed motions and documents alleging that new evidence showed Salemme had lied on the stand as a key government witness in Connolly's trial. They also accused prosecutors of withholding evidence from the defense.
A year ago, Salemme, who had been given immunity for his testimony at Connolly's trial, was indicted on a charge of lying to investigators by withholding information about the 1993 disappearance of South Boston nightclub manager Stephen DiSarro. Prosecutors say Salemme witnessed DiSarro's slaying. They insist that he testified truthfully against Connolly, however.
But Connolly's lawyers say that FBI reports only recently made available to them show that a Philadelphia mobster who spent time in prison with Salemme alleges that Salemme confided that he ''outslicked" prosecutors and lied to help send Connolly to prison.
Roger Vella, a onetime driver for convicted Philadelphia mob boss Joseph ''Skinny Joey" Merlino, told the FBI that federal prosecutors were obsessed with winning a conviction against Connolly, and that they coached Salemme to lie.
But prosecutors said that even if Salemme made such boasts to Vella, there was no truth to them.
''The government submits that any unsworn jailhouse boasts made by Salemme are inherently untrustworthy and do absolutely nothing to undermine the integrity of the jury's verdict as to Connolly," Deputy US Attorney John Durham wrote in a response to Connolly's motion.
Yesterday, Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, said, ''We are pleased with Judge Tauro's decision and we think it's the correct one based on the law."
But Mullane said there was ample evidence to warrant an evidentiary hearing into allegations involving Salemme's posttrial statements and other possible evidence of inconsistencies at trial.
''This is so discouraging," Mullane said. ''There's always the First Circuit. Hopefully we'll get a warmer reception up there." 