Whitey Bulger's Lawyer Wants Judge To Recuse Himself From Case
BOSTON (CBS) - James "Whitey" Bulger's lawyer is asking Judge Richard Stearns to recuse himself from the case.
In a court filing Wednesday night, J.W. Carney says Stearns should step down because he wants to call him and his former colleague as witnesses.
READ: Court Documents
Bulger is charged in 19 murders. In the newly released documents, Carney claims the late former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Jeremiah O'Sullivan gave Bulger immunity.
Carney says he, "will call witnesses who were in leadership positions in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston to corroborate that they knew of (Bulger's) alleged commission of dozens of federal offenses, and probe why they did nothing."
Those witnesses are Judge Stearns, and F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller, III, both of whom joined the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston in 1982.
Carney says, "The law - and common sense - says that a person can not be both judge and witness."
Carney also says that Bulger will testify and provide a "detailed account of his receipt of immunity" from O'Sullivan. An example, Carney says, is when O'Sullivan personally ordered that Bulger's name be removed from a proposed indictment for fixing horse races.
