Sven Ivory
December 1st, 2009, 06:46 PM
John Gotti Jr, the heir to New York’s biggest crime family, beat his father’s record today when he escaped conviction at a fourth successive trial.
A jury trying the mob scion announced it was deadlock tonight, forcing the judge to declare the fourth mistrial in five years.
“Junior,” as he is known, is the son of late mafia chieftain John Gotti, known as the “Teflon Don” for beating prosecutors at three trials before he was finally jailed for life at the fourth attempt in 1992.
Junior has now earned himself a reputation as the “Teflon Son.”
The younger Gotti, who took over the Gambino crime family from his father, claimed he quit the mob in 1999 - so that the Statute of Limitations had expired.
Prosecutors accused Mr Gotti, 45, of racketeering, including two drug-related murders, calling him “a violent street thug.”
He faced testimony from his former best friend and self-proclaimed “rat” John Alite, an Albanian-American mobster who claimed he had bedded Mr Gotti’s married sister Victoria.
Mr Alite described Mr Gotti as “spoiled,” saying: “He’s just a kid whose father’s a gangster. In a courtroom outburst, Mr Gotti called Mr Alite a “punk” and a “dog.”
Arguments also erupted in the jury room, with one juror complaining that a female postal worker on the panel was planning to write a book about the case. The two feuding jurors were removed from the trial.
The jury deliberated for longer than in the first three trials.
But jurors finally announced they were deadlocked on its 11th day of deliberations after returning from the long Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend.
Not even the Judge Kevin Castel’s effort to encourage them by giving jurors strawberry-flavoured liquorice twirls could coax them to a verdict.
Mr Gotti, who would have faced life in prison if convicted, wept as the mistrial was declared. His family applauded and his defense counsel, Charles Carnesi, put his hand on Mr Gotti’s back
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6939913.ece
John A. (Junior) Gotti released after Judge declares mistrail; 4th mistrial in 5 years
Junior beat the rap - again - and now he's going home.
Second-generation mob boss John A. (Junior) Gotti was released on $2 million bail Tuesday after his racketeering trial ended with a deadlocked jury and his fourth mistrial in five years.
The jury, in its 11th fruitless day of deliberations, sent out a second note announcing it was at a stalemate on all three charges against the now-Teflon Son.
Judge Kevin Castel then declared a mistrial in the 11-week old case, another stinging defeat for the government in its relentless pursuit of the second-generation mob boss.
Gotti inhaled deeply, his face flushed, and his family applauded as the dramatic decision was announced. Defense lawyer Charles Carnesi put his hand on Gotti's back.
Gotti walked out of court following his bail hearing - his first taste of freedom since August 2008, when he was arrested on the latest indictment.
The former Gambino boss faced life in prison if convicted - and could still face a fifth trial.
"Damn it, let it go," said his sister, Victoria, as the family celebrated its latest courtroom triumph. "It's the same thing over and over and over again.
"We're no organized crime family. We're just a family."
U.S Attorney Preet Bharara said his office was evaluating another Gotti prosecution, and would announce its decision "in the near future."
Asked about a fifth trial, the beleaguered Gotti replied, "I hope to God not."
The Gotti clan was planning a belated Thanksgiving celebration with Gotti, his wife and their six kids, said brother-in-law Louis Albano.
At Gotti's Oyster Bay, L.I., mansion, a catering truck arrived shortly after the jury came back - and 50 yellow balloons were tethered to the front gate.
The panel announced it was hung after returning from a five-day Thanksgiving weekend vacation.
One juror said the panel was divided 6-5 for conviction on racketeering, with one undecided; 7-5 for acquittal on one murder charge; and 6-5 for acquittal with one undecided on the second murder count.
"It was a long trial and we were split down the middle on almost everything," said juror Paul Peragine. "People shifted their vote back and forth, but it has to be over now.
"If they try him again it'll be an abuse of prosecution. Their case wasn't credible. Their witnesses weren't credible."
It marked the fourth failed prosecution of Gotti in five years, all ending with hung juries and mistrials.
This jury deliberated longer than the first three, but ultimately reached the same conclusion.
The mistrial boosted Junior Gotti - who spent six years in prison on an earlier conviction - past his dad in courtroom successes.
John (Dapper Don) Gotti beat three cases before he was convicted and jailed for life on murder and racketeering charges.
The divided jury sent out its first deadlock note Nov. 19, prompting the judge to give them a three-day weekend.
They returned Nov. 23, but found itself split again a day later.
Castel read the jury an "Allen charge," a last-ditch legal effort to urge a jury verdict before a mistrial.
Gotti, 45, used the same defense that worked in three prior cases: He quit the mob in 1999. The retirement defense split the three prior panels, and the fourth time proved a charm, too.
Gotti's fourth racketeering trial in five years began Sept. 21, with the anonymous jurors listening to a pair of familiar refrains.
Prosecutors described him as a ruthless mob boss responsible for murders, mayhem and drug dealing.
The defense, as it did successfully three previous times, insisted Gotti retired from "The Life" a decade ago.
Emotions ran high through the trial, which made as much news through courtroom theatrics as testimony. There were angry outbursts by Gotti and his mother, along with ugly backbiting among the jurors.
Junior exploded at his former buddy John Alite, a drug dealer turned mob informer who spent more than a week testifying against Gotti.
"You got something to say to me?" the star government witness barked at Gotti as he left the witness stand last month.
"You fag!" Gotti shouted back. "Did I kill little girls? You're a punk. You're a dog. You're a dog. You always were a dog your whole life, you punk dog."
Alite described his former best man as hot-tempered, violent and responsible for eight murders - including one where he gutted the victim with a knife inside a Queens bar.
He also infuriated the Gottis by repeating his claim of a romance with Junior's sister Victoria, claiming she turned to him after beatings inflicted by her ex-husband.
As the defense wrapped up its case, mob matriarch Victoria Gotti unleashed a vulgar tirade at Federal Judge Kevin Castel over his decision to cut loose a pair of feuding jurors.
One of the two, Juror 7, was widely seen as favoring the defense.
"F----- animals!" the seething mother screamed. " ... "The f------ gangsters! You son of a bitches! Put your own sons in there. You bastards!"
Gotti's mother was not in court Tuesday.
The jury's infighting - including an anonymous letter of complaint sent by one juror to the judge - became a recurring theme during the trial.
Castel, trying to calm the divided panel, at one point offered the jury a sweet treat: A plastic jar filled with 105 individually-wrapped pieces of strawberry licorice.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/01/2009-12-01_judge_declares_.html
A jury trying the mob scion announced it was deadlock tonight, forcing the judge to declare the fourth mistrial in five years.
“Junior,” as he is known, is the son of late mafia chieftain John Gotti, known as the “Teflon Don” for beating prosecutors at three trials before he was finally jailed for life at the fourth attempt in 1992.
Junior has now earned himself a reputation as the “Teflon Son.”
The younger Gotti, who took over the Gambino crime family from his father, claimed he quit the mob in 1999 - so that the Statute of Limitations had expired.
Prosecutors accused Mr Gotti, 45, of racketeering, including two drug-related murders, calling him “a violent street thug.”
He faced testimony from his former best friend and self-proclaimed “rat” John Alite, an Albanian-American mobster who claimed he had bedded Mr Gotti’s married sister Victoria.
Mr Alite described Mr Gotti as “spoiled,” saying: “He’s just a kid whose father’s a gangster. In a courtroom outburst, Mr Gotti called Mr Alite a “punk” and a “dog.”
Arguments also erupted in the jury room, with one juror complaining that a female postal worker on the panel was planning to write a book about the case. The two feuding jurors were removed from the trial.
The jury deliberated for longer than in the first three trials.
But jurors finally announced they were deadlocked on its 11th day of deliberations after returning from the long Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend.
Not even the Judge Kevin Castel’s effort to encourage them by giving jurors strawberry-flavoured liquorice twirls could coax them to a verdict.
Mr Gotti, who would have faced life in prison if convicted, wept as the mistrial was declared. His family applauded and his defense counsel, Charles Carnesi, put his hand on Mr Gotti’s back
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6939913.ece
John A. (Junior) Gotti released after Judge declares mistrail; 4th mistrial in 5 years
Junior beat the rap - again - and now he's going home.
Second-generation mob boss John A. (Junior) Gotti was released on $2 million bail Tuesday after his racketeering trial ended with a deadlocked jury and his fourth mistrial in five years.
The jury, in its 11th fruitless day of deliberations, sent out a second note announcing it was at a stalemate on all three charges against the now-Teflon Son.
Judge Kevin Castel then declared a mistrial in the 11-week old case, another stinging defeat for the government in its relentless pursuit of the second-generation mob boss.
Gotti inhaled deeply, his face flushed, and his family applauded as the dramatic decision was announced. Defense lawyer Charles Carnesi put his hand on Gotti's back.
Gotti walked out of court following his bail hearing - his first taste of freedom since August 2008, when he was arrested on the latest indictment.
The former Gambino boss faced life in prison if convicted - and could still face a fifth trial.
"Damn it, let it go," said his sister, Victoria, as the family celebrated its latest courtroom triumph. "It's the same thing over and over and over again.
"We're no organized crime family. We're just a family."
U.S Attorney Preet Bharara said his office was evaluating another Gotti prosecution, and would announce its decision "in the near future."
Asked about a fifth trial, the beleaguered Gotti replied, "I hope to God not."
The Gotti clan was planning a belated Thanksgiving celebration with Gotti, his wife and their six kids, said brother-in-law Louis Albano.
At Gotti's Oyster Bay, L.I., mansion, a catering truck arrived shortly after the jury came back - and 50 yellow balloons were tethered to the front gate.
The panel announced it was hung after returning from a five-day Thanksgiving weekend vacation.
One juror said the panel was divided 6-5 for conviction on racketeering, with one undecided; 7-5 for acquittal on one murder charge; and 6-5 for acquittal with one undecided on the second murder count.
"It was a long trial and we were split down the middle on almost everything," said juror Paul Peragine. "People shifted their vote back and forth, but it has to be over now.
"If they try him again it'll be an abuse of prosecution. Their case wasn't credible. Their witnesses weren't credible."
It marked the fourth failed prosecution of Gotti in five years, all ending with hung juries and mistrials.
This jury deliberated longer than the first three, but ultimately reached the same conclusion.
The mistrial boosted Junior Gotti - who spent six years in prison on an earlier conviction - past his dad in courtroom successes.
John (Dapper Don) Gotti beat three cases before he was convicted and jailed for life on murder and racketeering charges.
The divided jury sent out its first deadlock note Nov. 19, prompting the judge to give them a three-day weekend.
They returned Nov. 23, but found itself split again a day later.
Castel read the jury an "Allen charge," a last-ditch legal effort to urge a jury verdict before a mistrial.
Gotti, 45, used the same defense that worked in three prior cases: He quit the mob in 1999. The retirement defense split the three prior panels, and the fourth time proved a charm, too.
Gotti's fourth racketeering trial in five years began Sept. 21, with the anonymous jurors listening to a pair of familiar refrains.
Prosecutors described him as a ruthless mob boss responsible for murders, mayhem and drug dealing.
The defense, as it did successfully three previous times, insisted Gotti retired from "The Life" a decade ago.
Emotions ran high through the trial, which made as much news through courtroom theatrics as testimony. There were angry outbursts by Gotti and his mother, along with ugly backbiting among the jurors.
Junior exploded at his former buddy John Alite, a drug dealer turned mob informer who spent more than a week testifying against Gotti.
"You got something to say to me?" the star government witness barked at Gotti as he left the witness stand last month.
"You fag!" Gotti shouted back. "Did I kill little girls? You're a punk. You're a dog. You're a dog. You always were a dog your whole life, you punk dog."
Alite described his former best man as hot-tempered, violent and responsible for eight murders - including one where he gutted the victim with a knife inside a Queens bar.
He also infuriated the Gottis by repeating his claim of a romance with Junior's sister Victoria, claiming she turned to him after beatings inflicted by her ex-husband.
As the defense wrapped up its case, mob matriarch Victoria Gotti unleashed a vulgar tirade at Federal Judge Kevin Castel over his decision to cut loose a pair of feuding jurors.
One of the two, Juror 7, was widely seen as favoring the defense.
"F----- animals!" the seething mother screamed. " ... "The f------ gangsters! You son of a bitches! Put your own sons in there. You bastards!"
Gotti's mother was not in court Tuesday.
The jury's infighting - including an anonymous letter of complaint sent by one juror to the judge - became a recurring theme during the trial.
Castel, trying to calm the divided panel, at one point offered the jury a sweet treat: A plastic jar filled with 105 individually-wrapped pieces of strawberry licorice.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/01/2009-12-01_judge_declares_.html