Posted By: Don Cardi
Judge declares third mistrial in 'Junior' Gotti racketeering case - 09/27/06 08:08 PM
As our friend SC has informed us over in the Organized Crime News topic, John "Junior" Gotti's trial ended this morning in a mistrial.
NEW YORK (AFP) - The racketeering and kidnapping case against John "Junior" Gotti, son of the late Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, was declared a mistrial for the third time in New York when jurors failed to agree a verdict.
Two earlier trials on the same charges collapsed in September last year and in March, in both cases also due to hung juries.
"We are disappointed by today's outcome," attorney Michael Garcia said in a statement after the ruling. "We will inform the court in the very near future about how we plan to proceed."
Prosecutors will have to decide whether to drop the charges or go ahead with a fourth trial, court officials said.
The defence camp, however, quickly claimed victory, with a beaming Gotti telling journalists outside the court: "It's time for us all to just move on. It's over... That's it. Now I've got to rebuild my family."
Gotti, 42, is accused of conspiring to kidnap Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, the citizen-run crime-fighting organisation, in 1992.
Sliwa, who was shot three times, says the botched kidnapping was ordered by Gotti in retaliation for his regular radio talk-show denunciations of the Gambinos and John Gotti Senior as "America's number one drug dealer."
While jurors had managed to agree on one of the counts against Gotti related to kidnapping, it was not enough to secure a conviction. The jury remained deadlocked on charges of witness tampering and whether he had left the mob.
After six and a half days of deliberation, the jury on Tuesday had told judge Shira Scheindlin they were deadlocked and again failed to reach a unanimous verdict on Wednesday, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial.
"It's absolutely unbelievable that he escapes justice and gets to walk out of court," Sliwa told journalists. "It actually would have been better if I were dead, believe it or not, because then he would have been held culpable."
Also charged with running the Gambino organisation, Gotti faced a 30-year jail sentence if convicted.
Gotti turned down a deal offered by prosecutors last November that would have seen him plead guilty and serve 10 years in jail after credit for time already served and good behavior.
The elder John Gotti died in prison in 2002, 10 years after he was imprisoned for life on the testimony of one of his lieutenants.
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Does anyone think that the prosecution will take a shot at him for a fourth time?
Don Cardi
NEW YORK (AFP) - The racketeering and kidnapping case against John "Junior" Gotti, son of the late Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, was declared a mistrial for the third time in New York when jurors failed to agree a verdict.
Two earlier trials on the same charges collapsed in September last year and in March, in both cases also due to hung juries.
"We are disappointed by today's outcome," attorney Michael Garcia said in a statement after the ruling. "We will inform the court in the very near future about how we plan to proceed."
Prosecutors will have to decide whether to drop the charges or go ahead with a fourth trial, court officials said.
The defence camp, however, quickly claimed victory, with a beaming Gotti telling journalists outside the court: "It's time for us all to just move on. It's over... That's it. Now I've got to rebuild my family."
Gotti, 42, is accused of conspiring to kidnap Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, the citizen-run crime-fighting organisation, in 1992.
Sliwa, who was shot three times, says the botched kidnapping was ordered by Gotti in retaliation for his regular radio talk-show denunciations of the Gambinos and John Gotti Senior as "America's number one drug dealer."
While jurors had managed to agree on one of the counts against Gotti related to kidnapping, it was not enough to secure a conviction. The jury remained deadlocked on charges of witness tampering and whether he had left the mob.
After six and a half days of deliberation, the jury on Tuesday had told judge Shira Scheindlin they were deadlocked and again failed to reach a unanimous verdict on Wednesday, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial.
"It's absolutely unbelievable that he escapes justice and gets to walk out of court," Sliwa told journalists. "It actually would have been better if I were dead, believe it or not, because then he would have been held culpable."
Also charged with running the Gambino organisation, Gotti faced a 30-year jail sentence if convicted.
Gotti turned down a deal offered by prosecutors last November that would have seen him plead guilty and serve 10 years in jail after credit for time already served and good behavior.
The elder John Gotti died in prison in 2002, 10 years after he was imprisoned for life on the testimony of one of his lieutenants.
============================================================
Does anyone think that the prosecution will take a shot at him for a fourth time?
Don Cardi