Mar 14, 2006 6:39 pm US/Eastern
Judge Refuses To Dismiss Charges Against Connolly
MIAMI, FL (CBS4) ―
A judge refused Tuesday to dismiss a murder conspiracy charge against John Connolly, an ex-FBI agent accused of helping Boston mobsters kill a Miami gambling executive more than two decades ago.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Barbara Areces said she found no merit to the argument by Connolly's attorneys
that a four-year statute of limitations had expired on a conspiracy alleged to have taken place in 1982.
Dismissal of the conspiracy charge would have made it more difficult for prosecutors to prove that Connolly had a role in the fatal shooting of former World Jai Alai executive John Callahan, whose body was found stuffed into the trunk of his Cadillac at Miami International Airport.
Areces did, however, agree to delay Connolly's trial date from this spring until Aug. 14.
His lawyer, Manuel Casabielle, said he is still going through some 121,000 pages of documents related to the case and must still interview several witnesses, including some in the federal witness protection program.
"It's painfully slow, unfortunately," Casabielle said.
The 65-year-old Connolly is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy for allegedly providing information to members of Boston's Winter Hill Gang -- run by fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger -- that led directly to Callahan's death.
Bulger is also charged in Callahan's murder, along with top lieutenant Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and alleged triggerman John V. Martorano.
Connolly has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. He could get the death penalty if convicted.
Connolly, a childhood friend of Bulger's, is already serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for racketeering, obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his role in protecting Bulger and other gang members from prosecution while also using them as informants.
Callahan was killed because he had allegedly paid Flemmi $50,000 to kill another gambling executive and could link members of Bulger's gang to that slaying, prosecutors have said. Flemmi pleaded guilty in 2004 to that murder.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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