The prosecutors said that the ordinary time period of 28 days to turn over discovery material to the defense is “simply insufficient time” to produce the “voluminous” evidence in the case.
James "Whitey" Bulger, right, is escorted from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to a waiting vehicle at an airport in Plymouth earlier this month after attending hearings in federal court in Boston.BOSTON – Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to give them more time to turn over evidence to lawyers for former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
Bulger, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, was captured last month in Santa Monica, Calif., after 16 years on the run. He is accused of participating in 19 murders.
In a motion filed Friday, prosecutors say the ordinary time period of 28 days to turn over discovery material to the defense is “simply insufficient time” to produce the “voluminous” evidence in the case.
They say that Bulger “bears some responsibility for this predicament” because he was a fugitive for so long.
Prosecutors have asked to have until Aug. 31.
The original deadline was Aug. 3.
They say in their motion that Bulger’s lawyers have agreed to the extension.