BOSTON – A new judge has been named to preside over the trial of former Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger a day after the previous judge was removed to eliminate any appearance of bias.
The clerk of the federal court on Friday announced the appointment of U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper.
A federal appeals court had removed Judge Richard Stearns from the case, citing his background as a former federal prosecutor. Stearns worked that job in the 1980s, when Bulger was an FBI informant.
Casper also worked as a federal prosecutor in Boston, leading the U.S. attorney's drug unit.
Bulger ran the Winter Hill Gang and is accused of participating in 19 murders. He was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., with his girlfriend in 2011 and has pleaded not guilty.
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