Trial resumes Tuesday in Miami in the high-profile trial of ex-FBI agent John Connolly. Will Connolly testify on his own behalf? Inquiring minds want to know. One of his attorneys said the decision hasn’t been made yet.
By Shelley Murphy
Boston Globe Staff
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.
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