Janet Uhlar, a juror in the James ‘Whitey’ Bulger trial, said she is disgusted with the judicial system.
Bulger, 83, was found guilty of murder, racketeering, and related charges on August 12 in Boston. He was found guilty of 11 killings and faces life in prison for crimes committed during the 1970s and ’80s, when he led the Winter Hill Gang, Boston’s Irish mob.
Bulger was one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives after he fled Boston ahead of a 1994 indictment. During his 16 years on the run, his secret relationship with the FBI as an informant was revealed, embarrassing the FBI and exposing corruption within the bureau.
Known as Juror No. 12, Uhlar told CNN in an exclusive interview Tuesday that the testimony of FBI supervisor John Morris was one of the difficult ones for her to listen to.
Morris admitted in court to leaking sensitive information that may have endangered the life of informant Michael Donahue, one of the victims. Morris apologized to Donahue’s family.
“Morris walks away having been involved in two murders—[Edward ”Brian“] Halloran and Donahue. And gets promotions and retires at a nice old age with a full pension,” Uhlar told CNN.
The juror felt Morris was treated with respect, while Robert Fitzpatrick—the former assistant special-agent-in-charge of the Boston FBI—got poor treatment for speaking up against Bulger years ago. Fitzpatrick had to leave the FBI because of his recent testimony that he was was harassed and overruled by his superiors upon expressing concern about Bulger decades ago.
“It was just pretty sickening to sit there and hear some of the testimony and the corruption with government and that—at one point, I think one of the prosecuting attorneys talking about money laundering. And they were explaining once the tainted money goes into anything, every bit of money that now comes from that is now tainted. And I felt that way about the trial itself in a very real sense,” Uhlar said. “It began, you know, tainted and almost every witness that came through for the prosecution, I just had this feeling like it’s tainted.”
In an exclusive interview with CBS Monday night, another juror said Bulger’s defense attorneys did not gain traction with him by presenting evidence of government corruption and FBI misconduct. Scott Hotyckey, known as Juror No. 5, said, “The FBI wasn’t on trial.”
