Whitey Bulger's lawyers file softer-side photos as potential exhibits, but one backfires
Lawyers for accused mobster James “Whitey” Bulger apparently aimed to show his softer side when they uploaded 20 photos to a court website on Wednesday, identifying them as potential exhibits in the racketeering conspiracy case.
The photos show Bulger with his girlfriend, his brothers, his two dogs, a parrot, a goat and a priest, report ABC News, the Associated Press and the Boston Globe. It turns out, however, that the priest is Monsignor Frederick Ryan, who was defrocked after he was accused of sexually abusing teen boys in the 1980s.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak objected to the photos. “This is obviously an attempt to salvage Mr. Bulger’s public reputation by publishing dozens of photos with him holding all sorts of animals,” he told U.S. District Judge Denise Casper. “I don’t know if being an animal lover is going to salvage his reputation.” Casper did not exclude the photos.
The photos inspired this caption contest by the Boston Globe.
