James “Whitey” Bulger not an informant, defense attorney says

James "Whitey" Bulger was not an informant, his lawyer sensationally claimed Wednesday in a Boston Court, while at the same time arguing that his claim of immunity from prosecution should be ruled on by a jury.

A US prosecutor has argued that Bulger's claims he is protected from prosecution by immunity should be ruled on by a judge.

"James Bulger was never an informant for the FBI or anybody else," defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said, despite FBI files stating that Bulger, 83, was an FBI informant during the 1970s and 80s, when he allegedly participated in 19 murders, the Associated Press reported. 

However Carney would not be drawn on why Bulger should be granted immunity if he were not an informant, saying he’d answer that question at Bulger’s trial.

Bulger himself claims former federal prosecutor Jeremiah O'Sullivan — who died in 2009 — granted him immunity for all his crimes in return for him acting as an informant, The Boston Globe reported.

A prosecutor argued before a federal court in Boston Wednesday that a judge should rule on Bulger's claims he is protected from prosecution.

US District Judge Richard Stearns, declined to decide the matter Wednesday, giving both sides 14 days to submit further arguments.

Bulger fled Boston in 1994 and was one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives until his 2011 capture.