Judge denies request to delay Bulger trial

BOSTON, July 11 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts judge Thursday denied a request to delay proceedings in the racketeering and murder trial of reputed mobster James "Whitey" Bulger.

Defense attorneys requested a delay until July 16 in the trial because their client was "exhausted" by being awakened at the Plymouth County House of Correction every day at 4 a.m., The Boston Globe reported. The trial began on June 3rd.

"This 83-year-old man is exhausted," defense lawyers J.W. Carney Jr. and Henry Brennan wrote.

U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper refused to delay the case, but did agree to shorten the length of the trial on Thursdays to 1 p.m.

Bulger is charged with 32 counts related to 19 killings during the 1970s and '80s, racketeering, extortion, money laundering and firearm violations.

Bulger has pleaded not guilty and is being at the Plymouth facility held without bail.