U.S. v. Locascio
| Decision Date | 08 October 1993 |
| Docket Number | 1305 and 1782,Nos. 817,D,931,s. 817 |
| Citation | 6 F.3d 924 |
| Parties | 37 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1148 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Frank LOCASCIO, and John Gotti, Defendants-Appellants. ockets 92-1382, 92-1384, 92-1671 and 93-1181. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
John Gleeson, James Orenstein, Asst. U.S. Attys., New York City (Mary Jo White, U.S. Atty., E.D.N.Y., New York City, David C. James, Asst. U.S. Atty., E.D.N.Y., New York City, of counsel), for appellee.
Charles Ogletree, Boston, MA (Ephraim Margolin, Margolin, Arguimbau & Battson, San Francisco, CA, of counsel), for defendant-appellant John Gotti.
Michael E. Tigar, Austin, TX (Dennis P. Riordan, Riordan & Rosenthal, San Francisco, CA, Michael Kennedy, Michael Kennedy, P.C., New York City, of counsel), for defendant-appellant Frank Locascio.
Before: KEARSE, MINER, and ALTIMARI, Circuit Judges.
Defendants-appellants John Gotti and Frank Locascio appeal from judgments of conviction entered on June 23, 1992 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Glasser, J.). They also appeal from the district court's October 30, 1992 order denying their motion for a new trial and a subsequent denial of a renewed motion for a new trial.
Gotti and Locascio were convicted after a jury trial of substantive and conspiracy violations of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962(c) and (d) (1988), and various predicate acts charged as separate counts. They were each principally sentenced to life imprisonment. The charges stemmed from their involvement with the Gambino Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra, an extensive criminal organization.
On appeal, Gotti and Locascio raise numerous challenges to their convictions and the subsequent denial of their motion for a new trial. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgments of the district court.
On July 18, 1991, a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a thirteen count superseding indictment against Gotti and Locascio. The indictment also named two other defendants, Salvatore Gravano and Thomas Gambino, who are not parties to this appeal. All four defendants were charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962(c)-(d) (1988), for unlawfully conducting and participating in the affairs of a criminal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. The charged enterprise was the Gambino Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra ("the Gambinos," "The Gambino Family," or "the Gambino Crime Family"). Gotti was charged as the head of the organization, and Locascio was accused of being the "underboss," or second-in-command.
Gravano was charged as the "consigliere," or advisor, to Gotti. Following the indictment, Gravano pleaded guilty to a superseding racketeering charge and testified at length at trial against Gotti and Locascio. The charges against Gambino, a "captain" in the organization, were severed.
Counts One and Two of the indictment charged Gotti and Locascio with the substantive and conspiracy violations of RICO. Many of the crimes charged as racketeering acts in the RICO counts were also the basis of separate counts in the indictment. Gotti was charged with the following predicate acts: the conspiracy to murder and the murder of Paul Castellano; the murder of Thomas Bilotti; the conspiracy to murder and the murder of Robert DiBernardo; the conspiracy to murder and the murder of Liborio Milito; and obstruction of justice at the Thomas Gambino trial. Gotti and Locascio were both charged with the following predicate acts: the conspiracy to murder and the murder of Louis DiBono; the conspiracy to murder Gaetano Vastola; conducting an illegal gambling business in Queens, New York; conducting an illegal gambling business in Connecticut; conspiracy to make extortionate extensions of credit; and obstruction of justice in the investigation of the Castellano murder. Gotti and Locascio were also Gotti and Locascio were tried before a sequestered anonymous jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Glasser, J.). Prior to trial, there were numerous government and defense motions, most of which need not be recounted at length. The motions that are the subject of this appeal included: the government's successful motion to sequester an anonymous jury; the government's successful motion to disqualify counsel for both Gotti and Locascio for various conflicts of interest; and Locascio's unsuccessful motion to sever his trial from Gotti's.
charged in separate counts for a conspiracy to obstruct grand jury investigations, bribery of a public servant, and a conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Trial began in February 1992. The government's proof to support the allegations that Gotti and Locascio had been in command of an extensive criminal enterprise was comprised mostly of lawfully intercepted tape-recorded conversations of the defendants-appellants and other alleged members of the Gambino Family. The government introduced tape recordings from four different locations over an eight-year period.
The most significant evidence consisted of conversations intercepted at 247 Mulberry Street in New York during the period from late 1989 until early 1990. The government had installed three listening devices in that building: in the Ravenite Social Club on the first floor, in a hallway behind the club's rear door, and in an apartment two stories above the club ("the Ravenite Apartment"). It was this last location that proved the most fruitful for the government, and the most damaging for the defendants-appellants. In the discussions in the Ravenite Apartment, Gotti, Locascio, and other Gambino Family members discussed various illegal acts. These discussions formed the core of the proof against the defendants-appellants at trial. Another major source of evidence was the testimony of Salvatore Gravano, who cooperated with the government following the indictment. As a high-level insider in the Gambino Family, Gravano's testimony was especially damaging.
The tape recordings, combined with Gravano's testimony, presented to the jury a picture of a large-scale enterprise involved in various criminal activities. The jury heard evidence on the structure and inner workings of the Gambino Family, and learned of the miscellaneous crimes with which Gotti and Locascio were charged: murders, obstruction of legal proceedings, conspiracies, gambling operations, and loansharking activities. It is unnecessary to recount the evidence in detail at this point, since much of it is unnecessary for full understanding of the issues on appeal.
Following a six-week trial, the jury found Gotti guilty of all charges in the indictment. Locascio was found guilty of all charges except the count relating to a gambling operation in Queens, New York. Each defendant-appellant was sentenced by the district court to life in prison on the RICO and murder counts, and the statutory maximum prison terms on all remaining counts, with all sentences to run concurrently. The court also imposed five years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine on each defendant, and mandatory special assessments.
Several months after sentencing, government attorneys discovered previously undiscovered reports that potentially pertained to Gravano's credibility. The government turned over those reports to the defendants-appellants, who subsequently moved for a new trial pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 33, on the ground that the government had not disclosed relevant evidence under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). This motion and a later renewed motion were both denied by the district court.
On appeal, Gotti and Locascio raise myriad challenges to their convictions and to the subsequent denial of their new trial motions. They contend that the district court erred in: (1) disqualifying counsel for both Gotti and Locascio for conflicts of interest; (2) allowing certain government expert testimony; (3) instructing the jury; (4) allowing evidence of other crimes that were inadmissible against them; (5) impanelling an anonymous sequestered jury; (6) refusing to sever Locascio's trial; and (7) denying a motion for a new For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
trial based on the government's suppression of material relating to Gravano's credibility. The defendants-appellants also argue that they were denied a fair trial based on the government's suppression of exculpatory evidence and prosecutorial misconduct.
Prior to trial, the district court disqualified attorneys for both Gotti and Locascio. Gotti and Locascio now contend that these disqualifications were unwarranted and violated their Sixth Amendment rights.
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." U.S. Const. amend. VI. The accused, however, does not have the absolute right to counsel of her own choosing. SeeWheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 159, 108 S.Ct. 1692, 1697, 100 L.Ed.2d 140 (1988). As the Court stated in Wheat,
while the right to select and be represented by one's preferred attorney is comprehended by the Sixth Amendment, the essential aim of the Amendment is to guarantee an effective advocate for each criminal defendant rather than to ensure that a defendant will inexorably be represented by the lawyer whom he prefers.
Id. Similarly, although a criminal defendant can waive her Sixth Amendment rights in some circumstances, that right to waiver is not absolute, since "[f]ederal courts have an independent interest in ensuring that criminal trials are conducted within the ethical standards of the profession and that legal...
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