Whitey Bulger Jury Will Not Be Sequestered
BOSTON (CBS/AP) - A federal judge ruled Tuesday that jurors in the Whitey Bulger trial will not be sequestered while they deliberate.
Judge Denise Casper said it would not be fair to jurors who may become "disgruntled" to be sequestered this late in the trial without any warning.
Casper denied the request from Bulger's attorneys shortly before the first defense witness was scheduled to resume testifying Tuesday.
Robert Fitzpatrick, a former FBI supervisor, testified that he tried to convince the FBI to terminate Bulger as an informant after Bulger was uncooperative and didn't appear to be helping the bureau's mission to gather information on the Mafia.
Fitzpatrick became the first defense witness at Bulger's racketeering trial when he took the stand Monday.
During cross-examination Tuesday, a prosecutor suggested that Fitzpatrick had exaggerated the extent of his effort to terminate Bulger as an informant.
Fitzpatrick said higher-ups in Boston and Washington felt Bulger "was going to bring down the Mafia."
