Bulger Day 13: Morris Gets Grilled

The defense cross-examined corrupted FBI agent John Morris.

So Whitey Bulger’s on trial and you’re interested in hearing about it, but you’ve got this darn day job and you can’t manage to keep up with all the live tweets. We feel you. Here’s what you missed. (Past coverage here.)

The Witnesses: It was not a particularly eventful day, as the court heard once again from corrupted FBI agent John Morris. (The court did not hear once again from Whitey Bulger who reportedly called Morris a “fucking liar” from his seat in the courtroom Thursday.) Much of Morris’s testimony retread the events he recounted to the prosecution yesterday, but with the defense’s interpretation. As they have with past witnesses, Bulger’s lawyers tried to portray Bulger as having paid FBI agents for information without giving any dirt back to them. Their attempt to poke holes in Morris’s credibility and push him on his memory led to some testy moments. Trying to establish that Morris and Bulger were chummy, defense attorney Hank Brennan said, “Sounds like you could have joined a softball team together,” to which Morris answered, ‘I’m sorry?” before prosecutors objected. Morris also told Brennan, “I’ve been gone a long time, sometimes I don’t understand your accent.” Ba-zing.

The Room: Whitey Bulger’s brother Jackie was once again present, as he often is, but this time joined by their sister Jean. (Former Senate President Billy Bulger has yet to appear.) There was some debate as to whether Bulger was an outfit repeater. But apparently he was merely wearing the same colored shirt as he did yesterday, not the same shirt itself. Phew. It’s okay to have themes, guys. Bulger seems to have spent his time alternately staring at Morris and scribbling notes.

Next week, plan to hear from some extortion victims, but it’s a short one – just two days of trial, thanks to the holiday.