WEBVTT - 6 - Unraveling the Commission 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:06.240 You're listening to Law and Order Criminal Justice System, a 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.720 production of Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts. 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:17.640 In the criminal justice System, landmark trials transcend the courtroom 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:21.160 to reshape the law. The brave many women who investigate 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:24.040 and prosecute these cases are part of a select group 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:33.440 that has defined American history. These are their stories. October sixth, 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:36.640 nineteen eighty six, Manhattan Federal Court. 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.920 Testimony continue today in the trial of that mafia so 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.960 called Ruling Commission Government and informer Fredda Christopher testifying today 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.720 against Carmine Persico, the repeated boss of the Colombo crime family, 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:49.480 and on one of the defendants. 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.240 Fred de Christopher was testifying for the prosecution in the 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:59.120 Commission trial. He was Columbo family boss Carmine Persico's cousin 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.880 by marriage. De Christopher had hidden Persico in his home 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.479 for months and had witnessed nearly everything the boss did, 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.520 and was now ready to give him up. Persico was 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.360 acting as his own attorney, and to Christopher's betrayal, struck 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:15.039 a deep nerve. 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.800 This sent Persco into orbit. I mean, if you've ever 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.679 heard the expression of looking daggers at somebody, this is 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:27.080 like looking surface missiles at somebody. What Persca wanted to 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.160 do was to cross examined for a to Christopher and 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.559 intimidate him, to make him squirm. 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:38.000 You could just feel the venom and the hatred that 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:42.559 Persico felt for De Christopher during his attempt to cross 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:48.480 examine him, that this former relative, former confidant had turned 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.040 against him and become a government witness. 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.560 As Persico cross examined, the sparks started to fly. 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.000 At times, they bickered with the familiarity comment only to 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.800 people who have lived again. Presco charged that someone bought 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.640 the Christopher's Long Island home for him. To Christopher, you 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:08.160 know I bought that house, Persico, You couldn't buy sucks. 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:14.560 Persico took every opportunity to impune, intimidate, and even threaten 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:18.359 the witness, behavior that in most trials would warrant an objection, 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.480 But in this instance, Persico's remarks only served to paint 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.640 him as the vindictive criminal that the government charged. 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.560 And finally, at one point Fred kind of lost his 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:31.760 temper and said, I know what you're trying to do 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.000 with me, Carmie, I know what you're trying to do. 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.800 And Perscoe very quietly in a low menacing voice said 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.760 the judge, you won't let me tell you what I 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.399 want to do with you. And I remember leaning over 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.840 to John Savage and he just convicted himself because he 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:48.560 sounds like the mobster he is. 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.560 At one point, defense attorney Cardinal called for a mistrial. 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.200 He tried to Judge Richard Owen for allowing the Christopher 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.400 to call Persico Junior his nickname. The judge told both 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.880 men to try to be more formal. That didn't work 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:01.440 for long. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:07.160 The Christopher wouldn't last long. Christico would have literally eaten 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:07.680 him alive. 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:18.400 You're not with the mob because you want to be. 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.600 It's the gangster that decides whether you're his associated on. 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.520 If you like your life, you will vote to acquit. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.920 I'm aniseg and NICOLASI my father should have been a dead. 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:35.240 Man from Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts. This is lawn 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:46.080 Order criminal justice system. The Mafia Commission trial was well underway. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:50.400 It was New York versus the Mob, a showdown decades 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.680 in the making. Four mob bosses and their underbosses had 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:59.760 been summoned to face multiple charges of bribery, extortion, and murder, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.400 and to everyone's surprise, Carmine Persico had chosen to forego 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:08.360 an attorney and represent himself, and while he was no 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.520 trial lawyer, even prosecutors had to admit that his inexperience 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:18.360 was disarming and at times surprisingly effective. Here's Gil Childers. 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:23.039 He never got my name right. He never never said Childers. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.120 He called me mister Child's, mister Children's. 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:31.960 Whatever the move left the Feds to wonder was Persico's 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:36.200 bravado and unpredictability all part of some master plan. 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:40.800 He did witness examinations, cross exams on his own and 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.080 stuff like that. People are saying, you know, why the 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:45.760 hell would he do that? Well, he had nothing to lose, right, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.520 he got to stay in New York, and he got 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:50.480 to thumb his nose at the government little bit. Do 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.240 you think I'm a chief hood? You know, I'll show 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:53.560 you I can play in your ballpark. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:58.360 Gil says that throughout the trial, Persico took every opportunity 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.719 to shake things up, knowing his defiance and street charm 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.360 had the potential to win over the jury of his 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:05.760 fellow New Yorkers. 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.720 Give him credit for this. He tried to act like 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:13.679 a lawyer as best he could. In most instances. During 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:18.400 one of his cross examinations of a FBI surveillance witness. 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.479 He's up there and he says, Agent Jones, when you 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.200 were there doing that surveillance, Were you trying to record 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:30.080 this too? Did you have one of those diabolic microphones 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.800 meaning parabolic microphone is one of those diabolic microphones that 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:38.520 could pick up people down the street. A good scriptwriter 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.680 might come to a line like that, but it would 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:42.400 take some thought. 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:47.200 But his affable act was also partly a disguise. 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.719 During the part of the trial we were presenting the 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:54.479 evidence in the Galante homicide, Michael Bowden, who at the 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:56.919 time of the murder was the medical examiner for the 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:00.000 City of New York, was testifying, and he had testified 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.440 that Galante had summer in the neighborhood of eighty plus 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:07.440 entry and exit wounds, tremendous carnage done to the bodies 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.680 of the three victims, And while Boden was still in 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.480 the stand, one of the defense counsel asked for a sidebar. 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.200 Acting as his own lawyer, Persigo was entitled to join 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.960 the meeting at the judge's bench, and it gave a 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:23.320 brief window into the mobster's true nature. 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:29.080 So just before the sidebar actually started. Persigo tugged on 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:33.960 my coat sleeve and said, mister childs them guys, you 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:38.840 think them guys died of gunshot wounds, and he dropped 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.800 his head onto my shoulder. I'm looking down at the 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.120 top of this guy's head as he's laughing after that 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:49.040 coming and going, holy, this is one six bitch. And 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:53.520 it was both a chilling and a sort of remarkable moment, 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.360 the musings of a psycho mob boss. 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.400 The fact was that Persigo had an meanstreak a mile wide, 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:05.200 and lead prosecutor Michael Cherdoff knew that if it was 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:08.640 put on full display, it could lead to the mobster's downfall. 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:15.080 Persco would occasionally demonstrate his anger or his disdain Carmim 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.520 Persco was the one who took it the most personally, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.000 and it was the most personally antagonistic. 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:24.920 One of the most striking examples of his short fuse 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.600 was when Persico faced off against a government witness named 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.480 fred de Christopher. It was a showdown that had a 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:32.360 long time coming. 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.520 Most of the other defendants had been on tape, some 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:40.240 of them quite extensively. The one major defendant who was 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.360 not on tape was Carmim Persico, and that's because during 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.840 many of the events in question, he was a fugitive 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.880 in another case involving the Colombo family and had been 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.760 hiding out in the house of his cousin and her husband. 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.720 Her husband's name was fred D. Christopher, so he didn't 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:00.480 have him on tape. 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:04.240 Bob family's are notoriously loyal enclosed lipped when it comes 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:08.000 to cooperating with police, but apparently even the boss of 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.320 the family can eventually wear it his welcome. 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.800 At some point after we indicted the case, Fred De 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:19.440 Christopher called the FBI up and basically told them that 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.560 Persico was being harbored in his wife's house with him 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.720 and if they wanted him for this outstanding warrant, they 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.440 could come get him. So they did, they arrested him. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.400 Fred's wife, who was Persco's cousin, stayed loyal to Persico 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:36.760 and not Fred and of course, at that point, having 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:41.760 betrayed Persico to Christopher, went into the witness protection program. 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.640 In exchange for his insider knowledge against the Columbo boss. 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.840 He received a new life far away from New York, 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:52.400 as well as a fifty thousand dollars reward for his trouble. 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.280 During that time Perscoe was in the house. He was 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.679 getting evidence about this other organized crime case involving the 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:04.040 College family, and he was reviewing it and commenting on 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.320 it to fred D Christopher and making admissions about various things. 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:14.000 So fred Christopher repeated things that Carmen Perscoe had said 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:18.920 that were very incriminating, including his involvement with the other 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:20.160 bosses and the commission. 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:24.880 Persico later called to Christopher's wife to the witness stand 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.320 in an attempt to both embarrass him and discredit his testimony. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.760 Persico got her to say that Freda Christopher was totally 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.920 deaf and therefore Carmen Persico could not have talked to 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.640 him about these criminal acts because Freda Christopher could never 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.000 have heard them because he was deaf. He couldn't hear 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:43.360 a thing. 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.880 Michael had the pleasure of dispelling that theory in his cross, 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:49.559 complete with some theatrics. 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.640 I said, so, let me understand your testimony, missus D. Christopher. 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:56.920 You're saying that your husband fred is so deaf that 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.720 he couldn't hear Carmen Persiccoe. She goes, yes, absolutely, And 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.720 I said, so, like if your husband were sitting where 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:07.120 you are in the witness box, and I'm over here 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.920 at the podium. You're telling me that Fredia Christopher could 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.720 not hear anything I said. She goes, yes, he wouldn't 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:15.960 hear a word you said. And I'm looking at the 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.559 jurors and they're rolling their eyes. They realized that the 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:25.400 defense story that Persco had Fred's wife tell is obviously 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.080 a lie. And I think that did Perso. 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.840 In the fact was that no matter how hard Persico 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:35.520 tried to undermine the Christopher's credibility, the details and the 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:40.360 witnesses sworn testimony were very hard to ignore. During direct exam, 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.160 Michael asked him if Persico ever said anything regarding the 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:49.080 assassination of Carmen Galante. The Christopher answered in the affirmative 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:53.600 and said that Persico had also admitted the Commission's involvement. 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.800 He also testified to being with Persico and a Colombo 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:01.120 underboss when they received the news that Galanti was dead. 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:03.400 Here's part of what he said in court. 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:06.880 Anthony got on the phone and all of a sudden, 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.280 a big smile came on his face and he said, 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:13.600 well it's over. He hung up, clapped his hands and said, 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.320 come on, let's go eat something. He asked Russell's sun, 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.240 what did he get so happy about? And was told 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:22.960 you'll read about it tomorrow in the papers. 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.640 De Christopher gave some of the most powerful testimony of 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:31.480 the trial. His account read like lines from a gangster movie. 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:35.280 But the prosecution also knew that hanging a case on 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:38.679 the testimony of an informant, especially one that had been 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:43.960 so richly rewarded for his cooperation, carried serious risks. Still, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.960 when asked why he had turned on Persico, to Christopher's 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:49.600 words seemed to rick true. 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.719 I think what they do is despicable. They are the 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.560 most despicable people on the face of the earth. 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:12.800 It remained to be seen if the jury would believe him. 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.440 During the commission trial, Bruno and Delocado sat in a 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.400 defendant seat for his role in the murder of Carma Galante. 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.000 He was the same man who held a gun to 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.560 FBI agent Joe Cantamasa's face in the wake of his 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.080 father Sonny Red's murder, one of the three capos gunned 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:34.840 down in nineteen eighty one. Once the prosecution had finished 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.480 presenting their evidence, the defense began putting on their own case, 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.840 and they came armed with something up their sleeve. A 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:42.920 surprise witness. 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:48.600 So we're sitting there and in walks this woman. Her 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.800 name was Babe Schroeder. She was in Delocado's. 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:57.199 Aunt, Charlotte Lang and her partner Pat Marshall were caught 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.119 off guard, to say the least, who's. 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:01.920 I looked at him and be like, I don't know. 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.319 I looked a pack on. We're all like I don't know. 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:10.439 Somehow it seemed that Aunt Babe had eluded the FBI's investigation, 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:14.559 which could prove to be a costly mistake because Bruno's 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:17.440 aunt was ready to offer her nephew exactly the gift 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:18.480 he had been waiting for. 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.599 She said it was impossible for Bruno to be involved 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.400 because he was with me all that day, so she 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.440 was the alibi that they were able to dig. 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:34.600 Up without evidence to disprove her testimony. The prosecution's case 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:36.960 against in Dellacado might collapse. 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.400 And for some reason, I turned and I looked at 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.080 the back of a courtroom which was like standing room 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.079 only to say the least, and there was an agent 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.720 from the Columbus squad who I knew really well, and 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:51.960 he was kind of like jumping up and down and 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.360 waving at me to come back. So I did. I 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.559 got up and I walked to the back and he said, 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.400 we have her on tapes trying to start in the airlines. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.839 The FBI team in charge of the Colombo family knew 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.520 all about ant Babe. In fact, they even had the 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.079 proof that she had lied in other criminal cases. 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.080 So I came back and it was close to lunchtime 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.880 and I went over to Churchtov and it whispered in 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.640 his ear. I said, the Columbo family has tapes of 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:27.120 ant Babe committing crimes. And so Turtoff jumped up and said, 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.880 you're Onnrina. We'd like to break for lunch. And so 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.000 I went over to the office got the tapes from 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:38.280 this particular agent. This was like a masterpiece. That afternoon, 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:40.520 I said to Churtoff, if you go on to sit 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.520 on the Supreme Court, your best moment will be the 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.600 cross examination of ant Babe. 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.400 Turns out that the defensive surprise witness was no match 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.200 for Michael or the truth. 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.120 He just took her apart. We thought she was going 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.960 to faint because she kept taking a piece of paper 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.440 and using it as a fan. She was sweating, she 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.040 was nervous, and the judge she kept on saying do 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.920 you want to take a break? Church Off would say, now, ma'am, 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.920 just wait a second, take a deep breath. But he 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:14.200 caught her in every lie. 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.480 And she ended up utterly flummixed on the stand. I 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:20.600 think she ended up taking the fifth. It was a 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.200 devastating cross and it was just something that sort of 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:24.280 fell into our lap. 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.760 The defense was pulling out every trick in the book 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.440 to try and discredit even the smallest points in the 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:35.120 government's case. But time after time, Michael, John and Gil 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.880 were prepared, and it turns out they were capable of 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:40.640 dropping bombshells. 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:40.640 Up their own. 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.720 Prosecutors tonight are pushing ahead in their bid to break 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.640 the back of organized crime in New York. Charles Feldman 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.000 takes a look at today's proceedings in court. 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.960 His name is joe Cantaloupo, a self confessed former hood 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:55.400 in the Colombo crime family. 0:15:56.720 --> 0:15:59.040 Again, here's John Savay's. 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:04.560 Old guy named Joey Cantalupo, who was another mob figure 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.560 who we had convinced to testify. 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.200 Now a government witness. Catalupo testified that after pulling off 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:13.920 various crimes, he had to pay a big percentage of 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.880 the take to Carmine Persico and his brother Alphons. 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.560 He helped to fill out sort of the understanding of 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:26.480 what the mob was, what role the Commission played in 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:27.400 the mob. 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:32.040 Joe Cantalupo had been a trusted associate of the Columbos 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:35.440 four years, and he had been privy to countless crimes, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.720 schemes and even murder plots. Carmine Persico was said to 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.600 have trusted Cantalupo with his life, but unfortunately for the 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:48.040 Colombo boss, Cantalupo was also an informant for the FBI, 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:54.480 and his testimony in court proved devastating. Cantalupo had later 0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:57.440 agreed to wear a wire to other mob meetings, the 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.520 audio of which was played during the trial. But the 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:05.240 most dramatic part of Cantalupo's testimony came when Carmine Persico 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:09.840 approached the stand to begin his cross examination. Persico could 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.160 barely contain his contempt for the man who had betrayed 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:17.480 him and his organization. In his effort to undercut Cantalupo. 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.119 Persico even went so far as to say that his 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.560 testimony was all just payback for getting beaten up by 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:28.000 Persico's brother a fight that had occurred decades before, and 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.159 once again the prosecutor sat quietly with that objection and 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:37.200 gave Persico the rope he needed to help convict himself. Eventually, 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.639 the defense rested their case. It was time for each 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:42.880 side to deliver their summations. 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.399 Two summations, right, there's initial summation by the government, then 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.720 there are defense summations, then there's a rebuttal summation. John 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.920 Savae did the initial summation by the government, which, as 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.879 I recall, was about four hours long. There were the 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.119 eight defense summations, and then Mike turned off to the 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:00.919 rebuttal summation. 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:05.520 John Savaye would be first up, followed by the defense. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:11.320 It was a huge effort, major undertaking. You've got to 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:15.280 embrace the entirety of the record. You've got to weave 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.520 the evidence together with the law so that the jury 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:20.520 will understand. 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.600 And in a case this complicated, it required not just 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:29.400 a mastery of the material, but confidence, clarity, and poise. 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.359 I would be lying if I told you I was 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:36.879 just completely cool, calm and collected. That's what I was 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:41.800 on the outside, obviously, but inside I was very nervous 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.320 and had you know that kind of jittery feeling anyone feels, 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.919 an all trial lawyers feel when they're getting up to 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:51.800 do something important, and this was especially so. You know, 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:56.560 the courtroom was entirely packed with press, audience was full. 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.400 There were a lot of folks who were from the 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:04.480 US Attorney's office there to watch the summation. My wife 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.439 was there, so I very much felt the world is 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:10.440 watching what I'm about to do. 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.119 And so John began the summation that would hopefully sense 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.120 the fate of the American Mafia. 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:20.520 The most important thing that you're trying to do is 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:26.399 really connect with each of the jurors. They infiltrated and 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:30.919 controlled an entire industry in New York City, the concrete 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:37.080 construction industry. You want to make eye contact with them. 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.600 Part of the power of the Commission is how they 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:47.719 control the family through enormous and unique accumulated power. You 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.000 want to feel that you are coming through to them 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:56.040 from your heart and your mind and explaining this complicated 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.600 case to them, all non lawyers in a way that 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:07.600 they can understand and digest and take in. The time 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:12.800 has come to place the responsibility for these crimes exactly 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:16.840 where it belongs. The government asks you to lay that 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:20.200 responsibility at the feet of these men. 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:27.840 John addressed the jury with the evidence, also acknowledging their courage, sacrifice, 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.920 and willingness to absorb the complicated details of the government's case. 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.560 In the end, it was a story of greed, violence, 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.960 and hopefully justice. When he came to the end of 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:44.760 his remarks, the most consequential summation in his young career, 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:50.640 there was no rapturous applause or flurry of congratulatory backslaps, 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.639 just as shuffling of notes as he returned to his seat. 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:56.439 People just don't even realize. I always just say, like, 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:59.080 does the jury see my hand shaking as I drink 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:00.960 that water? Because I had to have it a drinking 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:03.119 water before I'd give a summation. I was like, do 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:04.760 they see the shake in my hand? 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:05.480 Right now? 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:08.560 Exactly? We knew there was more to come, you know, 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:12.479 then the defense gets its chance to sum up, and 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.240 then we have our rebuttals, and then you have the 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:19.320 jury instructions and jury deliberations. I knew even after we 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:22.160 finished the main summation that we still had much more 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:23.080 time to go. 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:36.000 It was a monumental trial, and the nation was watching. 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:40.720 Never before had the seemingly untouchable bosses been assembled to 0:21:40.800 --> 0:21:44.440 answer such a litany of serious charges, and now it 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:47.880 was time to face the music. Each defense team would 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:51.800 make their final plea for acquittal. Suspence hung over the 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.560 courtroom like a storm cloud as defense lawyers approached the 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.600 jury to begin their summations, which, as Michael points out, 0:21:59.720 --> 0:22:04.119 were wildly and consistent from their thin explanations for shady 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:08.120 business practices to outrite denials of individual crimes. 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.720 Interestingly, the defendants chose to admit it there is a 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:16.199 mafia because the evidence on tape was so clear you 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.800 would have looked silly not to and they tried to 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.879 defend based on well, there wasn't really an extortion the 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:25.520 so called victims really wanted to pay because it was 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:26.280 bid rigging. 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:31.000 With this one crucial admission that the mafia was real, 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:35.760 and they called the shots. Salerno, Corrallo and many of 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:39.080 their assembled underbosses looked resigned to their fates. 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:45.080 The exception to that Persigo who claimed that fred De 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:48.679 Christopher Lyde and you know again that he was deaf, 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:52.120 and Percuco said he wasn't on any tapes and there 0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:55.800 was no photographic evidence, so he could not have been 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:58.359 involved in any of this because there was no direct 0:22:58.680 --> 0:23:01.080 physical or tangible reverences involvement. 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.440 Right up to the end, Persico aimed to place spoiler 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:09.159 to the government's case, and by singling himself out, he 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:11.639 made it clear that he was willing to throw his 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:15.040 criminal colleagues under the bus if it meant his own acquittal. 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:18.800 But the prosecution was not ready to let him off easy. 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:24.320 We obviously at the time, were taking careful note. And 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:28.400 then Michael got up and did a masterful rebuttal, marching 0:23:28.480 --> 0:23:32.879 through each of the counter theories that the defense had advanced. 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:36.280 Not only did the jury need the courage to do 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:39.239 what the law required, but the courage to do what 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:43.000 no jury had ever done before convict the commission. 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:47.240 Part of what both Michael did in his rebuttal and 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:50.439 I did in the main summation was to ask the 0:23:50.520 --> 0:23:54.640 jurors to sort of imagine being in their shoes and 0:23:54.840 --> 0:23:57.960 being threatened in the way that they were, and what 0:23:58.000 --> 0:24:00.520 that would have felt like had it been happening to you. 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:04.920 After the judge's charge, the jury of twelve New York 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:09.439 citizens adjourned to delivery, and for both sides there was 0:24:09.600 --> 0:24:13.320 nothing left to do. Except wait for a verdict. Here's 0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:14.160 Gil Childers. 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:18.760 Once that jury charge happens from the judge, you are 0:24:18.960 --> 0:24:23.400 absolutely out of control. You have no more levers of 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:27.159 control to exercise. I've always experienced a little bit of 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:31.200 relief that my job is done. I've done everything I can. 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:35.200 Now it's just wait and see. But also the most 0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:39.879 anxious moments, because now you're on tinderhooks waiting for twelve 0:24:39.960 --> 0:24:43.000 people whose names you don't even know, are going to 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:47.520 issue a verdict which is either going to validate several 0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:51.840