Bulger's Appeal
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Case: 13-2447 Document: 00116727153 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/14/2014 Entry ID: 5845805 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ________________ No. 13-2447 ________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee v. JAMES BULGER Appellant ________________ ON APPEAL FROM THE JUDGMENT AND COMMITMENT ORDER AFTER CONVICTION BY JURY BEFORE THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS 99-10371-DJC ________________ BRIEF OF APPELLANT ________________ By James Bulger's Attorneys Hank B. Brennan 20 Park Plaza, Suite 400 Boston, MA 02116 James H. Budreau 20 Park Plaza, Suite 1405 Boston, MA 02116 (617)366-2200 Dated: August 14, 2014 Case: 13-2447 Document: 00116727153 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/14/2014 Entry ID: 5845805 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ............................................................................................. III STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION .................................................................................... 1 ISSUES PRESENTED ..................................................................................................... 2 STATEMENT OF THE CASE ........................................................................................... 3 STANDARD OF REVIEW ............................................................................................... 4 STATEMENT OF THE FACTS ......................................................................................... 5 A. History of Corruption .............................................................................................5 B. The Case Against Mr. Bulger ...................................................................................6 C. Tacit Promises and Ongoing Protection ................................................................ 11 D. Trial Defenses ...................................................................................................... 12 E. Immunity ............................................................................................................. 17 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ................................................................................ 18 ARGUMENT .............................................................................................................. 23 I. The Trial Court Deprived Mr. Bulger of His Right to Testify at Trial and Present a Defense in Violation of His Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights ........................ 23 A. Ordering Mr. Bulger to Prove the Existence of Immunity Pre-trial Before He Could Testify about Related Matters in His Own Defense Exceeded the Court’s Authority and Usurped the Jury’s Role as the Final Arbiter of Facts, in Violation of Appellant’s Fifth Amendment Right Not to Incriminate Himself and His Sixth Amendment Right to a Jury Trial ....................................................................................................... 25 B. The Trial Court’s Ruling that Immunity Was a Legal Issue That Must Be Decided by the Court Pretrial Violated Mr. Bulger’s Right to Present His Defense in His Own Words to a Jury of His Peers as Guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment ................... 28 1. Rule 12 Expressly Entitled Mr. Bulger to Raise Immunity as his Defense at Trial ... 29 2. The Court’s Ruling that the Immunity Defense Was Severable Because “Immunity Is One that the Court ‘Can Determine without a Trial of the General Issue’” Violated Mr. Bulger’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights to Testify on His Own Behalf ....................................................................................................................... 31 3. High Ranking DOJ Official Jeremiah O’Sullivan Had Authority to Grant Immunity . 32 4. Mr. Bulger Proffered a Good Faith Basis to Testify that He had Immunity for Some Crimes ...................................................................................................................... 34 5. Mr. Bulger Was Prejudiced by the Loss of His Immunity Defense .......................... 35 II The Government’s Brady Violations Denied Mr. Bulger’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights, Due Process, Right to Confront Witnesses and Right and a Right To A Fair Trial ........................................................................................ 38 I Case: 13-2447 Document: 00116727153 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/14/2014 Entry ID: 5845805 A. The Prosecution’s Failure to Disclose Promises, Rewards and Inducements Provided to John Martorano Constitutes a Brady Violation .................................................. 39 B. The Failure of the Prosecution to Provide Evidence of Martorano’s Ongoing Criminal Conduct and Allegations of Protection of John Martorano by a Member of the Prosecution Team was a Brady Violation .............................................................. 46 C. The Cumulative Effect of These Material Brady Violations Must Result in Reversal 50 III The Trial Court’s Decision to Bar Defense Access to the Brady Materials and Not Grant a Stay in the Trial Was an Abuse of Discretion ...................................... 50 IV Denial of Right to Call the State Trooper Who Alleged the Martorano Cover-up as a Witness Violated Compulsory Process, Appellant’s Right To Confront Witnesses and Due Process Violated Appellant’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights ............................................................................................................ 51 V The Prosecution’s Repeated Offerings of Prejudicial and Inadmissible Opinions to the Jury through Improper Speaking Objections Must Result in a New Trial 53 VI The Cumulative Effect of All the Errors, Brady Violations and Misconduct During Trial Violated the Defendant’s Right to a Fair Trial .......................................... 57 ADDENDUM ............................................................................................................. 62 Orders & Docket Entries .................................................................................................. 62 Constitutional Provisions ................................................................................................. 62 Statutes .......................................................................................................................... 62 Rules ............................................................................................................................... 63 II Case: 13-2447 Document: 00116727153 Page: 4 Date Filed: 08/14/2014 Entry ID: 5845805 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS Fifth Amendment......................................................................................................................................................... 25 Sixth Amendment .................................................................................................................................................. 25, 27 STATUTES 18 U.S.C. § 1956 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 18 U.S.C. § 1962 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 18 U.S.C. § 3231 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 28 U.S.C. § 1291 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 RULES Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29, 30 Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 Federal Rule of Evidence 103(d) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 55 Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 52 CASES Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 89 (1935) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 57 Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20, 38, 48 Bucuvalas v. United States, 98 F.3d 652 (1st Cir. 1996) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4, 20, 24 Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24 (1967) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4, 24, 45 Ferrara v. United States, 384 F. Supp. 2d 384 (D. Mass. 2005) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 6, 37 Ferrara v. United States, 456 F.3d 278, (1st Cir. 2006) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18, 49 Ford v. Hall, 546 F.3d 1326, 1332 (11th Cir. 2008) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 In re Bulger, 710 F.3d 42 (1st Cir. 2013) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 III Case: 13-2447 Document: 00116727153 Page: 5 Date Filed: 08/14/2014 Entry ID: 5845805 Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 453, 459 (1972) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S.