| Accused Carpenters Union
Bribee Tagliaferro In Closing Blames Drug
Dealer DeFalco with Dock
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 26– Charged with
demanding bribes to join the
United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of
America, Salvatore Tagliaferro
has begun trial before U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Paul A. Crotty.
Unlike
other trials in the SDNY these
days, there is no audio
call-in line, and no Press
feed. On April 21 Inner City
Press up in the courtroom published:
"day ended as witness
described planning with
Tagliaferro, in Brooklyn, to
charge $600 fees "into our
pockets... Our motive? To make
some money." 2 big guys
laugh."
On April 26,
after the government's
closing, Tagliaferro's lawyer
Susan Kellman noted that the
jury consists of "11 women and
a black man," and that women's
weren't allowed on juries
until 1957. Then she tore into
cooperating witness John
DeFalco, quoting him about his
home as big as a school - with
a dock, no less.
She
portrayed Tagliaferro as
increasingly powerless, 200 of
his members taken, and DeFalco
as the one selling union
books. He was in Puerto Rico,
she said, "not dropping paper
towels from helicopters" but
volunteering. Tagliaferro
nodded to five family members
/ supporters in the front row.
There was
talk of a leak in SDNY - we'll
have more on this.
Back on March 30,
Judge Crotty ruled on various
motions in limine: "OPINION
& ORDER as to Salvatore
Tagliaferro. The Court DENIES
the Government's motion in
limine to introduce the
Defendant's 1997 conviction as
impeachment evidence against
the Defendant or any character
witnesses, should they elect
to testify at trial. The 1997
conviction is inadmissible for
all purposes. The Court GRANTS
the Government's motion in
limine to introduce the two
kickback schemes as subjects
of cross-examination against
character witnesses. The Court
DENIES Tagliaferro's
cross-motion to exclude
evidence about the Contracting
Kickback in the Government's
case-in-chief. The Court
DEFERS judgment on the
Government's motion in limine
to preclude or otherwise limit
testimony regarding the
Defendant's prior activities
as a confidential informant."
Now on March 31,
this: "SEALING ORDER as to
Salvatore Tagliaferro. This
order GRANTS the parties'
request to file the following
material under seal: the
Government's supplemental
motion in limine ("SML"),
Tagliaferro's response (Def.'s
Resp. dated Mar. 25, 2021),
and the Government's reply
(Gov't's Reply dated Mar. 28,
2021) (collectively, "the
Briefing"), along with
Tagliaferro's ex parte letter
dated March 25, 2021 (the "Ex
Parte Letter"). The Court has
weighed the presumption of
public access to these
judicial documents against the
risk that public disclosure
would present a significant
risk to (1) Tagliaferro's
safety, (2) the safety of a
potential defense witness, and
(3) law enforcement efforts."
Inner City
Press will be pushing that
this in-person trial also be
open to the press and public
by phone, given COVID. It is
not either / or. Watch this
site.
This case is USA
v. Tagliaferro, et al.,
19-cr-472 (Crotty)
***
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