Two stories related to John, Jr. Gotti :

Gag the teflon mom? No way!

She's Gotti right to talk, judge sez

BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

No one puts a muzzle on Mama Gotti. Not even a federal judge.
Prosecution complaints that the Dapper Don's widow flaps her lips too much didn't register with Manhattan Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin yesterday.

The judge said she doubted even Victoria Gotti's son or his defense lawyer could persuade her to put a sock in it.

"I bet neither of them could control her," Scheindlin said as John (Junior) Gotti and attorney Charles Carnesi shared a knowing chuckle.

The outspoken matriarch's habit of speaking her mind became a topic of debate during a pretrial hearing in her son's racketeering case. Defense lawyers were complaining about law-enforcement leaks — and prosecutors pointed out that their client's mother hasn't exactly taken the vow of omerta.

True enough.

She shared diaries about her husband and son with the Daily News last summer and regularly chatted up the press during her son's last two trials.

When mob snitch Michael (Mikey Scars) DiLeonardo testified that late Gambino boss John Gotti had a love child with a mystery woman, his wife had plenty to say.

"If anybody finds this other family, we could use some cash," she said sarcastically after the bombshell.

"DiLeonardo is a vile and vicious man," she fumed. "He needs to be spiteful. ... John Sr. is an easy target. He is not here to defend himself."

Scheindlin said it was clear that Mrs. Gotti was "furious" about DiLeonardo's testimony — and that nobody should have expected her to hold her tongue.

The judge also pointed out that since she wasn't on trial, she wasn't bound by any of the gag orders that affected other parties to the case.

Junior's first two cases ended in mistrials, and prosecutors are putting him back on trial — much to his mama's chagrin.

In a March interview, she accused prosecutors of trying to railroad her kid and described one assistant U.S. attorney as "foaming at the mouth."

She also took aim at Curtis Sliwa — the radio talk show host Junior is accused of putting a hit on — calling him "a sick puppy in need of serious therapy."

Junior's new trial starts July 5, and defense lawyers are trying to quash more than a dozen subpoenas sent to his relatives and alleged associates.

They claim prosecutors are trying to intimidate defense witnesses so they'll clam up before they can take the stand for Gotti.

Scheindlin ruled that prosecutors must wait until the new trial is over before they can haul two of those witnesses, Gotti's brother Peter and pal Steve Dobies, in front of a grand jury.

which brings us to this story :

Judge Warns Feds To Stay Away From Gotti Brother, Pal


NEW YORK -- A judge on Monday warned the government to steer clear of John "Junior" Gotti's brother and a close friend in a grand jury mob probe until after Gotti's third trial on racketeering charges in July.

U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin commented after defense lawyers accused the government of letting its agents tell prospective grand jury witnesses that they can thank Gotti for their subpoenas. Scheindlin said that "to say that's who you can blame, that's almost the government sending out an attack dog."

Gotti lawyer Charles Carnesi said cavalier comments by federal agents were not made for a legitimate purpose.

"It's done to generate some sort of anger at Mr. Gotti," he said during a hearing before the July 5 start of Gotti's third racketeering trial.


Defense lawyers said the government has sought to put Gotti's younger brother, Peter Gotti, and a friend, Steven Dobies, before a grand jury looking into new information about the Gambino crime family.

Both men testified as defense witnesses for Gotti at his last trial, which ended in March with a deadlocked jury.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Hou told the judge that the comments by agents would be inappropriate but not illegal.

Since the end of Gotti's last trial, prosecutors have sent grand jury subpoenas to Gotti's relatives and suspected Gambino crime family members and associates.

-2006 by The Associated Press

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Looks to me like the Federal Government may be a bit fustrated here and are basically trying to do whatever it takes to get Junior put in jail.

I'm not saying that Junior is a model citizen who does not deserve to be put in jail. But to try and use the tactic of telling prospective witnesses that "they can thank Gotti for their subpeonas," tells me that they are stepping over the line beause of their fustration and embarassment of not being able to put this guy away.


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