Follow Somerville Patch's Tweets from Bulger Trial

Update, 12:05: Robert Long talks about "Operation Lobster," an investigation in 1977 into truck hijacking. The investigation involved surveillance of a Lancaster Street garage where Bulger and other mob figures congregated, Long said. He talks about Somerville's Winter Hill Gang running ciminal activities in South Boston and other Metro Boston communities down to Quincy and out to Lowell.

At this point, Somerville Patch will take a break from covering the opening day of the trial. Stay tuned for more coverage of today's opening statements.

Update, 11:55: It appears the trial has begun in earnest. The prosecution just called Robert Long, a private investigator and former Massachusetts State Police detective, as a witness.

Update, 11:51: Bulger and attorneys have entered the courtroom again after a half-hour recess. The jury is making its way back to the courtroom after eating some snacks.

Update, 11:25: J.W. Carney has ended his opening statement and the court is in recess, with jury members getting snacks upstairs.

In his final words to the jury, Carney said Bulger had "an incredibly lucrative [criminal] business in the city of Boston" and was making "millions and millions of dollars." He therefore had "no reason to go out of his comfort zone" and pursue crimes he's accused of committing with Flemmi, Martorano and Weeks.

"Given these three individuals, given their background, given their character" would you believe them "beyond a shadow of a doubt?" Carney asked the jury about Flemmi, Martorano and Weeks.

"Add to the recipe the incredible incentives" for the three men to avoid serious punishment for their crimes and for the law enforcement community to land star witnesses, would you believe them? he asked.

"It's an unreliable recipe to get to the truth," he said.

Update, 11:20: I've been having a Twitter glitch, so from this point I will continue coverage of opening statemens here.

At the moment, J.W. Carney, Bulger's attorney, is delivering his opening statements. His general argument over the past 20 minutes has been to discredit the credibility of important witnesses in the trial. John Martorano and Kevin Weeks, for instance, were motivated to make up stories about Bulger in order to make deals with prosecutors and avoid the death penalty in other states.

Carney says Stephen Flemmi did the same—made up stories about Bulger to avoid serious punishments for his own crimes.

Carney says federal prosecutors were willing to give them deals.

ORIGINAL STORY

Somerville Patch will be on hand for opening statements in the James "Whitey" Bulger trial. You can read the latest from the courtroon by following the posts in the widget above.