...full sum and total of the F.B.I. and the police department's efforts here.
As has been outlined before, a couple ofhundred...
M- Mafia and organized crime members and associates have been indicted...
in the last year to two years.
So that the attack is at the top level, the middle level and the lower level.
And we are doing everything that we can to identify, indict and convict...
the capos, the soldiers and the associates of the Mafia as well.
Look, I gotta clip a guy. All I'm carrying is a. 22.
Of course I know it's not worth a shit.
What the fuck do you think I'm calling you for?
Go fuck yourself!.
- Hey, Tony. - Hey.
Your, uh, your papa here?
Uh, yeah. He's upstairs, but he's sleepin'. I'm makin' a banana daiquiri. You want one?
Asshole.
My God! Cousin, what are you-
What are you doin', Coz. I love you.
Coz, why are you doing this?
Pop!
Pop?
Papa! Pop!
Pop!
You're not being very helpful,Jackie.
I'm gonna have to let your parole officer know.
Come on,Jackie. We're not morons.
You had your eyes shut the whole time? You fuckin' expect us to believe that?
I'm sorry, miss.
My eyes were shut the whole time.
I never saw nothin'.
- Miss? - My eyes were shut the whole time.
Yeah. All right, Manny. Let's get out of here.
Hey. Someone sneaks in and pops you, don't come complainin'to us.
If somebody pops me, I won't go complainin' to nobody.
Hey, Pop. You sure you're doin' the right thing?
- I mean, I feel like killing this motherfucker myself. - Hey, watch your language.
- And you don't rat out the people that love you. - Love you?
He's your cousin. He puts four fuckin' bullets in you, and he loves you?
Yeah, he loves me. I love him.
He's family. He's just a junkie. He doesn't know what he's doing.
Live and let live. Speaking of which, how many times I gotta tell you?
If you see me shot 20 times, if you come in the room I got my head cut off...
- you don't call the cops. - I know, Pop.
- Who do you call? - I call Saul.
That's right. Come here.
My fuckin' hand. This fuckin' cousin of mine.
I swear to God, I feel like killin' him.
- Can they do that? - Do what?
- Go to my parole officer and get my bail revoked. - Hell, no.
You didn't shoot nobody. Somebody shot you.
- That trial ever gonna happen? It's been a year already. - They got no case.
That's why they charge you under RICO.
Whenever the government has no case, they charge you under RICO.
Aw, fuck them.
We gonna order some room service?
- Mm-hmm. - Oh, this looks great.
- Muchas gracias. - Gracias.
- Good evening. - Stay where you are. Nice and easy, gentlemen.
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say...
can and will be held against you in a court of law.
Do you understand that right?
You have the right to an attorney.
If you can't afford one, the court will appoint you one. Do you understand that right?
Mr. DiNorscio. Mr. DiNorscio!
Mr. Rizzo, would you wake your client up?
Twenty-two to 30 years...
for possession, sale and distribution of narcotics.
And believe me, I'll try to see to it that you do the full 30 years.
Let's go,Jackie.
Jesus, Sylvester. A little privacy, please.
- Come on,Jackie Dee. You're going downtown. - For what?
Damned if I know, but I'm sure as hell I'm not standing here...
smelling your shit while I argue with you.
- Let's go. - Coming.
Sylvester, how long we known each other?
On and off, uh, maybe eight years.
I'm a good guy, right?
Right.
- Everybody loves me. - Right.
So why are you standing here bustin' my balls? You can't let me finish takin' a crap?
You know, you're so full of it, you could sit on that toilet forever. Let's go.
So where you guys taking me anyway?
Federal building.
For what?
I have no idea.
Hey, could you do me a favor, roll down the window?
It's too cold.
Geez.
Thanks, fellas.
Wow, you guys expecting the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District?
Giuliani said to start without him.
Okay.
- You got any ketchup? - Oh, sorry. Just A-1 sauce.
A-1 sauce? A steak should have ketchup.
- Please. - All right.
- Ah, shrimp cocktail. - Mm-hmm.
- A little wine? - Oh, yeah, yeah.
So, car ride okay?
The car ride?
Oh, yeah, the fresh air felt good.
- The guys was real nice. They lowered the window for me. - Mm.
Well, I hope you breathed nice and deep.
It could be your last fresh air for 30 years.
Yeah, that judge shoved it right up my ass. Can you believe that?
Doesn't have to be.
What doesn't have to be?
Thirty years.
- Got any more wine? - Sure.
By the way, do you want your lawyer here?
My lawyer?
I just got sentenced to 30 years for a pissant dope deal...
'cause of that cocksucker.
So what do youse want?
You know what this is,Jackie?
Manhattan phone book?
Last year, you got indicted.
Fourteen counts.
"Gambling, racketeering, narcotics distribution, conspiracy-"
That RICO thing? That's a year old.
Counselor, I completely forgot about it.
I mean, it's been so long.
And... everybody knows that those RICO things are bullshit anyway, so-
Yeah, well, this one isn't bullshit.
It's notjust you. Your boss, your underboss, and 17 of your goombahs.
Twenty of you on 76 counts. We're not fucking around,Jackie.
Mm-hmm. So what do you need me for?
You're all going down. You are all going down.
The whole NewJersey Lucchese crew. We got it all.
Tapes, surveillance videos...
so many witnesses, they're crawling out of the file cabinets.
Your cousin, your own fuckin' cousin, Tony Compagna...
he's our star.
- My cousin Tony? - Your fuckin'- A.
The trial starts next week. And these pals of yours...
they're gonna be jumpin' over each others' bodies just to make a deal.
So we get your testimony,you get time lopped off this sentence. That simple.
You mean, I rat on my friends?
- You have no friends. - What'd you say?
I have no friends?
Those guys love me, man. I love them.
- They love you? - Mm-hmm.
For Christ's sakes, you left the Bruno family.
Lots of guys get whacked for doing less.
And what's worse, you switched over to the Luccheses.
Trust me when I tell you they don't like each other. The Brunos want you dead.
By the way, how did you get from Brunos to Luccheses?
I took a cab.
You took a cab?
Now listen to me, you guinea cocksucker. Don't fuck with me.
We're taking down the whole fuckin' family, do you understand?
This trial's gonna take at least a year.
76 counts, 20 defendants, I don't know how many defense lawyers...
at least four prosecutors...
eight alternates on the jury in case you fucks...
try to reach one of them to get a mistrial.
This is the biggest thing I'll ever have in my life.
Never lost a case.
And I sure as shit won't start with this one.
I'm gonna watch all of you taking it up the ass for the rest of your lives.
And that's the only kind oflove you pricks are gonna get.
So what's your answer?
Fuck you.
Get this piece of shit out of here.
- Mr. Kierney. - Yeah?
You got a brother?
Yeah.
Well, fuck him too.
You set up that meeting, didn't you?
Well, if somebody's gonna make a deal, Jackie, I want it to be you.
Aw, fanculo, you motherfucker.
That's why they did the dope trial, so they could use it to squeeze me on this one.
You should know that.!
I've been in prison half my life.
- You think I'm gonna start making deals now? - Listen,Jackie.
My job is to give you the best legal advice I can. That's what you pay me for.
I paid you 250,000 for my last trial...
and I'm sitting here holding my dick.
How much you wanna charge me for this one?
- Look at all the work we've put in on this thing. - How much you wanna charge me?
- Ah, 60,000, give or take a few. - 60,000?
Take your fuckin' briefcase, and get the fuck out of my cell.
Sylvester, get this piece of shit out of my cell.!
Jackie, pack up. You're movin' out.
- Movin' out? - Another cell block.
Is it bigger?
Oh, my God. Sylvester, listen.
My chair, I gotta have my chair. I can't sleep without my chair.
- I'll talk to the guy. - No, Sylvester. You don't understand.
I can't sleep without my chair. I got a bad back. You see, when-
- What the hell are you still doing here? - Aw, come on,Jackie.
- You owe me $60,000 for all the work I did so far. - Oh, Rizzo.
Send me a bill. I'll wipe my ass with it. Would that be okay?
- Oh, God. - Get him the fuck out of here.
- He's all yours. - Thanks,Jesse.
All the way to the end.
You wanna give me a hand?
Mr. Calabrese.!
Mr. Calabrese has no comment at the present time.
Mr. Calabrese, is the third time a charm?
Justice will prevail, and my client will be exonerated. Thank you very much.
Mr. Calabrese, you think you're a three-time loser?
Oh, look at you. You dressed up.
- Hey, good to see you. - How you been, huh?
- Good luck, bro. - Nice chatting with you.
- Okay. - Hey,Jackie.
- How are you? - How you doing? Good?
- Yeah, good to see you. - All right, all right. Don't be too obvious.
- They let you in here? - Good haircut.
- Thank you. - You're gonna look beautiful on TV.
- Carlo, how you doing? - My man.
Hey, Nick. Good to see you.
What's good about it?
Jackie? I'm Ben Klandis.
- I'm handling Carlo Mascarpone's defense. - How you doing?
Listen, is it true you're gonna defend yourself?
What do I need with a lawyer? So he can get me another 30 years?
- Last trial, I had apnea. You know what apnea is? - Yeah, I know what apnea-
It's like a sleeping sickness. It's like I slept through the whole fuckin' trial.
I wake up, the judge is sentencing me to 30 years.
The hammer comes down.
Bang! It felt like it landed on my dick.
Nah, this time, I take care of me myself.
Well, that's the problem. It's not just you.
They get one of you for spitting on the sidewalk, and all of you can go down.
R- I-C-O. The "C" in RICO, it stands for conspiracy.
Conspiracy isn't hard to prove. Two of you in the same room...
- that's conspiracy. - I'm not gonna hurt nobody.
You're gonna have to go up against your cousin, Tony Compagna. Ready for that?
That fucker's the reason we're all here. He turned.
But you know what? I'm gonna turn him back.
He's a junkie. Deep down inside he loves me. He's mine.
Well, let me just, uh, get somebody to sit with you so you don't make any legal errors.
It's a goddamn jungle in here.
Let me tell you something.
When they fucked with me...
they woke a sleeping giant.
I'll handle it.
All rise.
The honorable Sidney Finestein presiding.
Be seated.
Members of the jury, by law, you have to be able to see the witness box.
- Can you all see the witness box? - Yes, Your Honor.
Defendants, defense attorneys...
you may have to shift in your seats a little to see the witnesses.
Sorry, it's the best we can do. We've never had so many defendants before.
Counselor.
Ladies and gentlemen.
"We own New Jersey!"
This is the boast of a mob family...
that controlled an endless list of criminal activities.
The term "conspiracy" in Latin...
means to breathe together.
And these defendants breathed a life of crime together.
Our evidence will show that Carlo Mascarpone...
was the underboss of the NewJersey faction of the Lucchese crime family.
The Luccheses, one of the Five Families...
as vicious and dangerous a crew as any in the nation.
Gino Mascarpone. Gino ran the day-to-day gambling...
loan-sharking and extortion activities for his boss, Nick Calabrese.
Danny Roma, family soldier and enforcer.
Alessandro Tedeschi, loan-sharking and gambling.
Tino Bellochio, numbers and gambling.
Dominic Crespi, gambling and numbers. Jackie DiNorscio, cocaine distribution.
You'll get to know the rest as we drag them up to the witness box.
Liars, sociopaths, murderers.
- This guy thinks he's Eliot Ness. - He's good.
Finally,you will hear from Tony Compagna...
Jackie DiNorscio's own cousin.
It was Mr. Compagna that started the ball rolling in this investigation.
A man, who fearing for his life...
agreed to cooperate and tell all he knew about the inner workings of this mob...
this group of leeches that suck money...
out of every enterprise, legitimate or illegitimate...
to support their extravagant lifestyles.
Now, we will be asking you...
to examine an awesome amount of evidence.
And I am sorry about that.
But the severity of these crimes...
against the people of this community...
in fact, all America...
make it necessary for you to do just that.
Thank you.
We will now hear opening statements from defense counsels.
Mr. Cellano represents, uh, defendant Dominic Crespi.
...the government's tapes, you will conclude...
that my client is not guilty of anything more than-
Since when is it a crime to wear fancy clothes...
and an expensive diamond pinky ring and drive a Cadillac?
If you arrested everyone who ever made a friendly wager on a sporting event...
you'd have to lock up half of the people in this courtroom.
- You're up soon. You ready? - And all of this in 40 years of driving.
I got nothing written down.
Well, what are you gonna say then?
How the fuck do I know? This whole case is a joke, right?
Mr. Klandis is representing defendant Carlo Mascarpone.
Right in front of you, ladies and gentlemen...
is this Latin motto, whose translation is.;
"Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall. "
I have the fate of Carlo Mascarpone in my hands.
There he is sitting near his brother Gino.
They didn'tjoin the Lucchese family, because they already had one...
the family created by Mr. and Mrs. Mascarpone.
It's called biology.
You'll hear a lot about my client's flamboyant lifestyle.
His wife, Rosalynd, sits in this courtroom...
married 17 years, four children.
That's a lifestyle.
He goes to St. Lucy's church. His wife teaches C.C.D.
That's a lifestyle.
Many of these defendants are related, some are friends or neighbors...
that have known each other since playing Little League baseball together.
That's a lifestyle.
They are a family.
Not the kind of family the government talks about.
They would twist it. They would make it evil.
But all we're asking for, ladies and gentlemen...
is to let justice be done, though the heavens may fall.
Thank you.
Okay. Let's see who's next.
Mr. DiNorscio. Mr. DiNorscio.
Isn't your attorney here?
Well, Your Honor, I think I'm-I'm better off-
Say that again.
Uh, I- I wanna go pro se. I'm gonna be my own lawyer.
Do you know what "pro se" means?
- Sort of. - What do you mean, "sort of"?
Uh, if you defend yourself, it's called "pro se. " I'm gonna defend myself.
Mr. DiNorscio, in a case of this magnitude, I don't think it's advisable.
My Sixth Amendment right.
I mean, I got the right to defend myself. Am I correct,Judge?
Yes. Yeah, you're correct. Have you had any legal experience?
Uh, well, sort of.
What do you mean, "sort of"?
I've been in prison half my life.
Sometimes I think I had too much legal experience.
Mr. DiNorscio, have you heard the saying...
that a man who represents himself has a fool for a client?
Now I have. Is it true,Judge?
Sometimes it is.
So that means sometimes it ain't, right?
Okay.
- Thank you,Judge. - But I don't think it's advisable. It's up to you.
Uh, Mr. DiNorscio, you're on.
Hi, I'm Jackie DiNorscio.
Uh, I'm defending myself in this case.
You'll have to excuse me, I'm a little nervous.
You see, I'm no lawyer.
I only have a sixth-grade education.
And, uh, I'm not sophisticated in the law like some of these other persons here.
But what I tell you will come from the heart.
Four months ago...
we started to pick jurors for this trial.
And I wanna say right now...
that I'm satisfied with everybody on the jury.
And I wanna thank Mr. Klandis...
for translating that Latin slogan in front of the judge.
I thought it meant "No smoking. "
I was literally about to light up.
Like I said, uh...
I'm no lawyer...
uh, so I don't know where they came up with this RICO law thing.
Should probably ask Mr. Kierney. I guess if you're Italian,you should be in prison.
I've read the RICO Act, and I can tell you it's more appropriate...
for some of those guys over in Washington than it is for me or any of my fellas here.
- Are you through, Mr. DiNorscio? - Uh, no,Judge.
How do I look, good?
You see this hat?
I'm wearing this hat to make me look like a gangster.
'Cause that's what that table wants me to be...
a gangster.
But I'm not a gangster, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm a gagster. This ain't even my hat.
Thank you, Mr. Washington.
Now, I'm sure Mr. Kierney...
will tell you I've been in jail half my life, most of my life.
It's true.
I'd rather go to jail for a thousand years...
than to ever rat on any of my friends.
Do you know that this government...
this government offered me a deal...
to join their list of witnesses...
- and lie about these men here? - Objection.
Sustained. Mr. DiNorscio.
- What? - You will confine the opening statement-
- But I- - to the evidence to be presented.
Thank you,Judge. I got it. Okay.
Ladies and gentlemen...
the evidence will show that they wanted me to lie about my friends.
- Objection. - Overruled. - And I just could never do that.
I grew up with these guys. How long I known you guys?
I've known them since we were little babies.
I love these guys. They're all I got.
But now all the prosecutor's got...
is a nutcase, two junkies and a bank robber.
- Objection. - Sustained. Mr. DiNorscio.
I got this,Judge.
They talk about us being extravagant. You hear him before?
"To support their extravagant lifestyles. "
Do I look extravagant?
One day, my wife asked me for $20 to buy a rump roast from the butcher.
I told her, "$20 for a rump roast?"
Of which I took her to the kitchen where we got a full-length mirror.
I pull out a $20 bill out of my pocket. I hold it up to the mirror.
I say, "Sweetheart, you see that $20 bill in the mirror?
That one belongs to you. This one belongs to me. "
And I'm out of there. It's over.
The next day, ladies and gentlemen, I come home...
and I see roasted meats from one end of the table to the other.
And I asked her, I said, "Honey, where'd all the meat come from?"
So she took me back over to the full-length mirror.
She lifts up her dress, ladies and gentlemen.
She points to the mirror and she says...
"The one in the mirror is yours, honey.
This one belongs to the butcher. "
I mean, extravagant? Do I look extravagant?
- Mr. DiNorscio. - I woulda wore a better suit.
Mr. DiNorscio.!
Hey, all right. Everybody, please quiet down.
Please, you'll all get a ch-chance to talk.
Max, how do you think it went?
Well, I haven't had a chance to talk to Nick yet, but all in all, not a bad day.
Ben, I thought you were terrific.
Chris, Frank, Henry, all of you, good work.
Then that fuckin' lunatic gets up there, and I don't know what to think anymore.
- I don't know if it's good or bad. - Bad. All bad.
We got a major RICO trial going on here...
and all of a sudden we gotta contend with fuckin' Shecky Green.
Ben, the guy's a time bomb out there.
You know the cliche, "Never ask a question you don't know the answer to"?
He's gonna ask a question, or he's gonna say something...
or something is gonna pop out of that shit-hole of a mouth that he's got...
and we're gonna get hurt.
Well, see, you know, I'm not sure I agree.
I was stealing looks at the jury.
They were with him. They were laughing with him.
So let me throw that other cliche out at you.
"A laughing jury is never a hanging jury. "
Let's sleep on this...
wait it out a couple of days, see how it develops.
I can always rein him in later.
Nobody can take him seriously. He's a clown up there.
- Jokes about his wife's twat. Are you kidding me? - I agree.
I- In a week, they'll see him and the rest of them for the morons they are.
I don't want 'em to see those guys as morons.
I want that jury to see pimps, liars, racketeers, arsonists and murderers.
It's an old saying, but I believe it.
"A laughing jury ain't a hanging jury. "
- And he had 'em laughing. - I don't agree at all, Sean.
Laughing at him can indicate disrespect as well.
I don't know if you noticed, but a couple of the women in the jury looked deeply offended.
- He'll step over the line. You'll see. - It's an act.
No, it's not an act. That's what makes him dangerous. He's like some '60s pop tune.
"All you need is love. " Fuck.
Like some Deepak Chopra with a pinky ring.
See you, Nick. See you guys.
Good night, Nicky.
Counselor.
You're dead wrong, counselor.
You'll never rein him in.
He's fuckin' crazy. I've known him a long time.
He's out for number one. He'll have that jury laughin', and he'll get off.
And we'll be standin' there with our dicks in our hand.
- Nick, see- - Now, now, listen to me.
This is my fuckin' life on the line.
I gotta be sure. It looks to me like he's hurting us.
- I'm separating him from the case. - It's-It's not up to you.
- You wanna bet? - Don't get stupid on me, Nick.
I'm a lot of things. Stupid ain't one of them.
Have a good day, counselor.
Hey, Mickey. Aw.
You hungry?
Huh?
Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr. Juarez, is this the agreement that you signed?
- Yes, sir. - Now, Mr. Juarez...
you're here as a witness as part of a plea-bargain agreement with the government, correct?
Yes, sir. I got busted. And I was facing 40 years, so I flipped.
Regarding your narcotics sales...
you split the proceeds from those transactions with Mr. DiNorscio.
- That's right. - And how was Nick Calabrese involved?
I heard- I heard he always got his cut.
- Objection. Hearsay. - Sustained.
Just your personal experience, Mr. Juarez.
- Did you ever meet Mr. Calabrese in person? - Once.
I was at a birthday party forJackie's daughter, and he was there.
Jackie told me who Nick really was.
Why would Mr. DiNorscio confide in you?
Jackie and me, we used to party together a lot.
We were doing coke. We'd get high and...
when we had broads, Jackie liked to nail 'em two at a time.
Thank you, Mr. Juarez.
- Mr. DiNorscio. - You know, not for nothing,Judge...
but I thought this was the RICO Act, not the Puerto Rico Act.
How you doing, pal?
Now, Octavio, let's be honest here.
- You and me, we did a lot of jobs together, right? - Right.
You remember that one with Diego?
I sure do.
- Mind tellin' us about it? - No you-you tell them.
- Tell the jury. - No, you tell them.
I can't tell, Octavio. I got my lawyer hat on.
Besides, if I tell it, they're gonna think I'm bragging.
Well, you walk in...
and when their coke was on the table next to our money...
- you pull a gun. - And then what?
Diego says, "You only got six shots in that thing...
- and there is seven of us. " - And?
I'll never forget it.
You said, "How about if I shoot the six of you...
and strangle the seventh motherfucker?"
- And we walk out, right? - With the money and the coke.
Now, Octavio, have you ever- I don't think anyone has-
- have you ever heard me try to deny me using cocaine? - No way.
No, of course not. I wouldn't deny using cocaine ever.
I loved it. In fact, did you bring any?
What did he say? I didn't hear the punch line.
The main point was to tie Calabrese toJackie. We got that.
And, Peter, call Manhattan Correctional.
- Fuckin'Jackie's got himself set up like he was at a hotel. - Okay.
- Tell 'em I don't want him too comfortable. - Got it.
Hey,Jackie. How was court today, man?
- I killed 'em again. - Good.
- Jesse, where's my lounger? - The word come down,Jackie. You live like everybody else.
Yeah, but I can't- I can't sleep layin' down. I gotta sleep half sitting.
Tough tittie,Jackie Dee. Them's the conditions which prevail.
Hey,Jesse, you know my back!
How the hell am I supposed to sleep,Jess?
Aw,you'll figure it out.
Mr. Bellman, how did you come to know Mr. DiNorscio?
Uh, when I got paroled, I had no job, no money, nothing.
And a friend of mine hooked me up with Jackie.
I lived with him in Florida for a while.
And what was your relationship with him?
I was a gofer. I, uh, I drove him around, picked up guns for him...
and I gave rides to his friends, and, uh, I brought messages back and forth...
from him and some of these defendants here.
And did you ever see any drug transactions take place?
I was there when they were cuttin' up the money.
And to the best of your knowledge, how was that money distributed?
Uh, me and Jackie got a share.
Jimmy theJew got his.
I mean, uh,Jimmy Katz.
And, uh, of course the boss, Nick Calabrese, got the big cut.
Did you witness this?
Jackie and Jimmy, yes.
- Not Nick. - Move to strike as hearsay.
Sustained. Strike the reference to Mr. Calabrese.
And when did your relationship with Mr. DiNorscio end?
Well, you see,Jackie started gettin' nutty from all the coke.
One Christmas, he wanted me to get chickens to cook for a party.
I got tired of runnin' errands for him.
When I didn't get the chickens, he threw me out of the house.
That's the last I saw of him.
Thank you, Mr. Bellman. Your witness.
Now, tell the truth, Harry.
Isn't the real reason I threw you out of that house...
'cause I refused sexual advances from you to me?
- What? Objection! - Sustained.
Now, Harry, isn't it true that the guys in jail used to call you Mary?
- Objection. - No, that's not true!
Sustained. Mr. DiNorscio.
I warned you.
Harry, when you got out of prison...
isn't it true you didn't have a dime to your name?
Didn't I take you in? Didn't I treat you good?
- And this is how you pay me back, by rattin'? - You treated me like dirt.
You come here and you say that I committed these crimes after I treated you like a brother.
- Didn't I feed you? - Yeah, I feed my dogs too.
Look, Harry, how could this jury be sure you're telling the truth about me breaking the law...
when half the time you were high from shootin' drugs?
- Objection. - That's a lie.
Mr. DiNorscio. You have to prove that statement before you try to use it.
I will,Judge.
Come on, Harry. Roll up your sleeve.
Show the needle marks to thejury.
- Hey, stay away from me. Stay a- - Come on, Harry.
Stay away.
That Christmas...
wasn't the real reason I threw you out of that house...
'cause I woke up one morning and caught you tryin' to give me a blow job?
Mr. DiNorscio.!
- Isn't that the truth, Harry? - Come on,Jackie. Look at yourself. You kidding me?
I'm not kidding you.
I see the way you look at me. I know what's on your mind.
You wanna suck on this instead for a while?
Mr. DiNorscio should be held in contempt of court.
Remove the jury!
Lunch. Two hours.
Jackie,Jackie. What a fuckin'job you're doin; man.
- You're wearing 'em out. Keep it up. Love you, baby. - All right.
Ben. Ben.
Can you do me a favor?
I don't think so.
Why? What the hell did I do?
Two ladies on the jury were looking at you as if they wouldn't pick you up with tongs.
I can't let my client be affected by your behavior.
You damn well better control yourself or you're on your own.
Okay, okay, I got it.
Can you help me out, Ben?
What is it?
I wanna have lunch with the fellas.
Every day my marshals take me down to the holding cell.
Technically, you're still a prisoner,Jackie.
You think I don't know that?
Ben, Ben. I asked them this morning if I could have lunch with the fellas.
I grew up with most of them. By now they're family.
If it's okay with your marshals, it's okay with me.
- Hey! - Hey,Jackie.
You guys save any for me? Huh?
Hiya, Nick.
What are you doing here? You eat downstairs in the holding cell.
No, my marshal said it was okay if I ate with you guys.
Nobody cleared it with me.
- I didn't know it had to be cleared with you, Nick. - Now you know.
You know, Nick, I don't know why you're giving me such a hard time.
- I love these guys. - Stop with the love shit,Jackie.
You're so full of shit. What, because we're from the same neighborhood?
I didn't trust you when you was a kid. I don't trust you now.
What the fuck are you talkin' about? You got no reason to say that.
I got no reason? I got no fuckin' reason?
I see you up there kissin' ass so you can walk.
You'll suck cock to walk. You're the faggot, not Bellman.
Now, why don't you get the fuck out of here?
What, do I stutter?
- Coffee, sir? - Salami on ham.
Agent Kerry...
you conducted many hours of surveillance...
on each one of these defendants...
- on trial here today, correct? - I did.
And did the F.B.I. conclude...
that an organized crime family existed in northern New Jersey...
- under the leadership of Nick Calabrese? - Yes, that is correct.
And how did you determine that Calabrese was the boss?
Well, I was in a restaurant in Bloomfield on...
September 19 of last year.
It had a reputation as being a mob hangout.
Why did it have that reputation?
Because the food was good.
No interruptions.
Thank you, Your Honor. Go on, sir.
I was at the bar. Uh, you could see a large, private dining room at the back.
The doors were open, and two very...
well, heavyset gentlemen in tuxedoes stood by the door.
In the dining room, you could see a birthday party was going on.
How did you know it was a birthday party?
They were all wearing paper hats and they had those things that when you blow on them...
they uncurl and go-
- These were children? - No, sir.
No, sir. These were grown men.
- Go on. - Well, at the head of a horseshoe table...
sat, uh, Mr. Calabrese.
And as I observed, all these Italian males lined up to kiss his ring.
It was obvious to me that they were paying respects...
to Mr. Calabrese as being the boss.
It was like out of the movies. There was no other conclusion.
Thank you, Agent Kerry.
- Mr. Klandis? - No questions, Your Honor.
Mr. Novardis?
I have nothing for this witness, Your Honor.
- There are no further questions. - I'd like to ask him something.
- Mr. DiNorscio. - Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr. Kerry, I was wondering about something.
Could you tell all of us how you knew that those men in that restaurant was Italian?
Well, it- Uh.
I- You know, I guess that-
Hey, they all looked Italian to me.
- Wow. - You know...
with the hand gestures and the back slapping and the kissing and everything.
Did they teach you that in F.B.I. school that that's how Italians act?
No. No, that's not part of our training. No.
- You speak Italian? - No.
No?
Could you hear them talking in Italian?
No, I was too far away.
See, I-I'm not understanding this.
You're saying from the back slapping and the kissing, you knew that they were Italian?
- Well, it was an Italian restaurant. - Did they all have black hair?
Uh, yeah, yeah. From what I can remember, yeah.
Could they have been Spanish, Greek,Jewish?
Not with Nick Calabrese at the head of the table, no.
You saying Nick only eats with Italians?
No, I'm not saying that.
What if I told you I went into a restaurant...
and there was nothing but Irish guys there?
And you says, "How'd you know they were Irish?"
And I says, "'Cause they were all drunk, vomiting all over the floor. "
Objection, Your Honor. Badgering the witness.
- Mr. DiNorscio. - No, it's all right,Judge.
Look, Mr. DiNorscio. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck...
quacks like a duck, chances are it's a duck.
If it talks like an asshole, looks likes an asshole...
chances are it's an asshole.
Objection. This behavior cannot be tolerated.
Mr. DiNorscio, I am fining you $5,000 for contempt of court.
That's what I got, Your Honor. I got contempt for this court.
You should've stopped him before with all the Italian shit.
You are now fined 10,000.
Wanna try for 15?
If there are no further questions, I want to warn the defendants right now...
that if they keep up this raucous behavior...
they will be liable for contempt charges with heavy fines.
And you defense attorneys will be liable to contempt as well...
for not keeping your clients under control.
Sidebar, my chambers.
Jackie. Jackie.
Jerk-off, don't say my name ever again.
You say my name again, I'll cut your fuckin' heart out.
I've done it before. I'd be thrilled to do it again.
Jackie, what-
what the fuck do you think you're doing up there?
What? I speak my mind.
You can kick his dog, you can spit in his face...
but the one thing a judge never wants to hear is criticism about his court.
Fuck him. He ain't the jury. What the fuck could he do?
Jackie, your ignorance is second only to your arrogance.
Mr. Klandis, how do you think Mr. DiNorscio's behavior...
is affecting the jury's relationship to your client and the other defendants?
- Your Honor- - Don't say a word, Mr. DiNorscio.
Not a word. Mr. Klandis.
He's clearly a disruptive force.
- Mr. Kierney. - He undermines the authority of your court.
And if I may say so, you'd never permit such behavior from a regular attorney.
See any solution?
If he were just the defendant, you could put him in another room. They both watch it on TV.
But he's his own lawyer.
Unfortunately, it seems to me there's no choice.
He has to be severed from this trial and tried separately.
Mr. Klandis?
It's extreme, but I'm not against it.
I have no idea what the legal consequences would be.
I'll put my clerk to work on it.
All right, we ready for the jury?
Judge.
Yes, Mr. DiNorscio?
Can I talk to you?
I wanna apologize for my action in court before.
I want you to understand...
whatever I said, I meant no disrespect to you.
I respect you more than any other judge I ever faced, and I faced a lot of them.
Okay, well, thank you, Mr. DiNorscio.
I was out of line before.
I agree I should be held in contempt.
All right. Bring in thejury.
Jurors,jurors, will you please take your seats as quickly as possible?
What's going on? You all right?
What's the matter?
I need an opening. Break this up, here. Come on. E.M.T.
There you go. There you go. Okay.
I need some room.
I need some room, guys. Please, give me some room.
Can you breathe?
Watch his head. Watch his head.
- Bring him all the way up, all the way up. - Is he in trouble?
You're gonna be all right, Tommy. Don't worry.
The paramedics are gonna take care of you.
Nappy, want me to call your mother?
Nappy. All right. Nappy.
Okay.
There, uh, won't be any test results before Friday, maybe even Monday.
So let's adjourn until we get-
Your Honor, this trial is over 11 months old.
We haven't even reached the halfway mark in our presentation.
Mr. Kierney, I'm not used to being interrupted.
You are the one who handed in a witness list of more than 89 people...
and you have already introduced more than 450 exhibits...
and I am told there are hundreds more coming...
so let us not complain about a lengthy trial.
A defendant is sick and he is gonna get a fair shake in my courtroom, understood?
The clerk will notify you about our next meeting. Have a good night, gentlemen.
Nappy Napoli. How do you like that?
- Boy, oh, boy, time is fleeting. - Time is what?
Fleeting. Time is fleeting.
What the hell does that mean, "Time is fleeting"? What's fleeting?
Fleeting. It's like fleeing. Time is fleeing.
But it's in the past tense, so they say "fleeting. "
You're full of shit.
You're an ignorant slob.
You look good.
You got everything you need? You're okay on money?
Yeah. Stop worrying about me, Pop. I'm fine.
How's your brother doing?
Good, I guess. I mean, you know, I don't really see him too much.
- I worry about him. - You worry about everything.
Only family. That's all that matters.
The rest of it's a fart in a hurricane.
- How's your mama doing? - She looks good. I see her all the time.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
Say hello for me.
I don't know, Pop. I mean, the last time I did that she kind of gave me that look...
like I should never say it again.
She's tough. Boy, is she tough.
You know what the two best words in the English language are?
Things change.
Okay. First, about Mr. DiNorscio.
Because he's both a defendant and an attorney...
I think separating him out at this point...
will make an appeal by the losing side almost inevitable.
Anyone wanna go through this again?
No. So he stays.
But I promise you this, Mr. DiNorscio.
If you are as disruptive as you have been in the past...
you are out like that.
And to hell with what happens later.
You got me?
Second, trial resumes on Monday. I've spoken with the doctors.
They feel Mr. Napoli is fully capable of understanding the proceedings around him.
Your Honor, he can't even sit up.
Arrange for his hospital bed to be brought into the courtroom.
Your Honor, he's under heavy medication.
The doctors are cutting it way back this weekend.
- He falls asleep when I talk to him. - Make yourself more interesting.
Now, look, goddamn it. We're a year in.
This trial is going forward. Monday, 10:00 a. m.
Hey, there's Tommy Napoli!
- I'm glad to see youse guys. - Look at these shoes.
All rise.
Nappy Napoli can't rise. Is it all right if he stays layin' down?
Mr. DiNorscio.
Be seated.
You can see their autos parked here near the entrance.
There are two Lincolns...
and one, two, three Cadillacs...
as well as other vehicles parked nearby.
We continued our surveillance until Mr. Mascarpone and Mr. Roma...
got in their cars and left...
nine hours later at 4:00 a. m.
Agent Petraki, when you arrested my client, Carlo Mascarpone...
- did he resist in any way? - No.
I had a very pleasant conversation with Mr. Mascarpone.
And what did you talk about?
We discussed political philosophy and history.
I found out that he was a great admirer of Machiavelli.
So you discussed Machiavelli. No discussions of shakedowns, payoffs or rubouts, correct?
That's correct. But since I once taught a class in political philosophy...
I thought it ironic that Carlo Mascarpone was an admirer of Machiavelli...
whose major theme was that "power corrupts...
and absolute power corrupts absolutely. "
I felt that perhaps Mr. Mascarpone applied Machiavelli's ideas...
to his own line of work as a mob boss.
Your Honor, my next line of questioning could take some time.
It's so close to lunch, would anybody object if we took an hour now?
Any objections?
One hour.
Do you see this book?
It's called Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
Do you know who Lord Acton was?
- Lord Acton? - A-C-T-O-N, Acton.
- No, sir. - Well, he was English.
He lived from 1834 to 1902.
That's 300 years after Machiavelli.
And it's right here on page 39, it says...
"Lord Acton is the author of the quote...
'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. "'
Not Machiavelli.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Mr. DiNorscio?
- Mr. Petraki, you was a college teacher? - Yes.
Now, in those courses that you taught-
In what was it, politics?
- Machiavelli's a big deal, am I right? - A very big deal.
I mean, we're not talking about a made guy in the Lucchese family.
No, we are not.
So, my question is...
how could you make a mistake like that?
I mean, you're this educated guy, right?
And a lot of us, most of us, didn't even get through high school...
except maybe Carlo.
So your testifying here can hurt us.
- Do you see what I'm saying? - It was just an honest mistake.
What else was an honest mistake?
You said earlier that it was a Lincoln.
You said they spent nine hours.
Could that be a Caddy? Could that be a Mercury?
Could that be a Buick?
You said they spent nine hours. Maybe they spent three.
Maybe you don't know what the hell you're talking about, Mr. Petraki.
I prepared him, Sean. It's my fuckup. I feel like hell.
Don't worry about it. We got Compagna coming up. He's our clincher.
Here's what happens when Jackie cross-examines him. It's guinea versus guinea.
In 30 seconds,Jackie Dee will be screaming at him. I guarantee it.
And I make my motion to separate that fuck.
Finestein has to grant it. He's committed.
- Ladies. Gentlemen. - Is this a bad day-
- Hiya, Pop. - How you doing?
Well, I'm doing okay. How's Mom doin'?
Oh, some days good, some bad, you know.
Not to worry, all right? Not to worry.
I mean...
it's almost two years since I've seen her, Pop.
I mean, you think she's ever gonna come visit me in court?
I wouldn't count on it.
Listen,Jackie.
I'm sorry, you know. I- I never wanted this for you.
If it was good enough for you, it was good enough for me.
You're doing great.
- Did you see me? - Did I see you? Every day.
- Did you see the people laughing? - You're terrific.
I really mean it. You know, you could be a TV show.
Three of the jurors almost fell out of their chairs.
I know it. I know. You're fantastic.
Mr. McQueen, please state your occupation.
- Undercover agent for the F.B.I. - And your assignment?
My job was to penetrate the Mascarpone crew...
under the alias name Carl Cassio...
to determine the extent of organized crime control of the New Jersey seaports.
And how long were you undercover?
For over two years, I was accepted as one of the boys.
And during those two years, what type of criminal activities did you observe?
I saw scams, heard discussions about everything...
from stolen cars, stolen bonds, to bootlegged cigarettes.
There were deals going on all the time.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars were involved.
And how was Mr. Calabrese involved?
We all knew a piece of everything we got went to Nick.
Your Honor, objection.! Objection.!
My client is being pilloried- no, crucified-
by nothing but hearsay, hearsay, hearsay-
- If Mr. Novardis will stop repeating himself... - hearsay, hearsay!
- Oh, please. - we'll get beyond hearsay.
Go on, Mr. Kierney...
but you better connect the dots, or I'll strike the question and the answer.
Mr. McQueen, how did you know...
that Mr. Calabrese got a piece of everything off the top?
Jackie DiNorscio had introduced me to his cousin, Tony Compagna.
Compagna had real troubles- cocaine, booze.
Talked too much, he earned too little.
I was with him one day when he delivered over $7,000 to Mr. Calabrese in a paper bag.
And how did you know the amount?
He asked me to count it for him, 'cause he said he was too stoned.
And then what happened?
We went to a restaurant called...
The Hole in the Wall.
Mr. Calabrese was there with the Mascarpone brothers and somebody I didn't know.
He went up to Mr. Calabrese and said, "Here you are, boss, on account"...
and left the bag on the table.
- What happened then? - Calabrese took the money...
opened it, counted it.
And then he said to Tony...
"What the hell kind of bag is this? The money's all greasy. "
And Tony says, "I'm sorry. I ordered some egg rolls.
They was kinda greasy. It was the only bag I got. "
And Mr. Calabrese says, "You cocksucker.
"You give me greasy money again, you'll owe me twice as much.
Now get the fuck outta here. "
And he starts to laugh. And then everyone starts to laugh.
Mr. Calabrese blows the bag up, pops it.
Tony makes believe he got shot, slides under the table.
So, by now, everyone's laughing so hard, they're crying.
But Mr. Calabrese short-pocketed the money.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. McQueen.
Would you read that back, please?
"He went up to Mr. Calabrese and he said, 'Here you are, boss, on account. "'
On account. Isn't it possible...
that Mr. Compagna owed Mr. Calabrese money...
and was simply repaying him?
- I have no idea. - You didn't answer the question.
Isn't it possible that Mr. Compagna...
owed Mr. Calabrese that money, yes or no?
Okay, yes.
No further questions.
You don't mind if I call you Carl, do you?
You always called me Carl. No reason to stop now.
Okay, Carl.
- Do you carry your gun on you at all times? - Yes.
You're not gonna shoot me if I ask you the wrong question, are you?
I assure you,Jackie, the thought of shooting you never crossed my mind.
Well, that's good.
Just keep your hands on the rail where I can see them anyway.
Your Honor, we're either in a serious trial here, or we're not.
Mr. DiNorscio must know the consequences ofhis behavior by now.
You get him good. This fuck-head is turning it into a fuckin' vaudeville story.
- Calm down, Nick. - Mr. DiNorscio, proceed.
Now, you knew my father, right?
Met him six years ago. He threatened me at the New Brunswick courthouse.
- Pop, would you stand up? - He's a liar!
A goddamn liar!
No remarks from the spectators.
Now, you remember when you went to visit my pop in Lewisburg Penitentiary?
Very well.
- My brother Ralph went with you, right? - Correct.
Now, you was going up to bring up some liquor?
- You were gonna sneak it in? - Right.
Now, you knew my brother was a boozer, right?
- Yes. Everyone knew. - Carl...
you took my brother to see my father.
You knew he was a drunk when you left...
and you still went and bought him more liquor, right?
It was his idea we go get some liquor for your father.
We stopped, bought some. He picked up some for himself.
I had no intentions of ever abusing your brother's problem.
But you're an F.B.I. agent.
You're an F.B.I. agent smuggling liquor into a federal pen!
Your brother's the one insisted we go.
He was an alcoholic!
My father lives in a four-room apartment with my mother...
four blocks from the cemetery where my brother was buried.
And you helped kill him, Carl.
I don't believe I played any part in your brother's death.
I think maybe you should look at yourself.
Is the sun ever gonna come out?
It'll burn off, sweetheart. Don't you worry.
Fuckin'- Fuckin'Jackie got his ass handed to him yesterday.
Oh, first fuckin' time I found myself rootin' for a fed.
That fuckin' douche bag's gonna leave us hangin'. Trust me.
- I think you're wrong, Nick. - Who the fuck are you to think I'm wrong?
I can think you're wrong, Nick. It's a free country.
Hey, shit for brains, if it's so fuckin' free...
how come we're over a year in the trial, and they're still holding our bail money, huh?
You're such a fuckin'smart guy, answer me that. Look at this-gin.
Hey, Bellini, how come you got that nickname "Artist"?
- Tell him, Carlo. - You never heard of the painter Bellini?
He was a great Italian painter, 16th century from Venezia.
Oh, yeah, how do you know all that shit, Carlo?
What do you think, I wanna be ignorant all my life like you?
I'm interested in the great Italians.
- He was Italian? - Oh, fuck you, ignoramus.
- He was a fag. - Get the fuck outta here.
Nah, nah. He was a fag, am I right, Carlo?
You're right, Nick. How'd you know?
My great-grandfather fucked him.
You're somethin'else, Nick.
So, Mr. Kraus, when did you become a cooperating witness for the F.B.I.?
I got arrested for drugs.
The feds go talk to my lawyer, and he comes to me and he says, "Charley"-
What's going on back there?
I'm sorry, Your Honor. Mr. Napoli seems to have rolled off his bed.
Is he all right? Mr. Napoli?
Mr. Napoli, are you all right?
Okay. I'm okay, Your Honor.
- What happened? - I fell asleep.
I must have rolled off.
Can we get Mr. Napoli some coffee?
And can we put up the side rails on his bed?
Yeah, Mr. DiNorscio?
May I have a sidebar, Your Honor?
- My marshals- - Hey, hey, wait for me,Jackie.
My marshals have been giving me a hard time for weeks now.
Everybody gets to eat what they want, and not me. I gotta eat what they bring me.
I ordered, uh, creamy peanut butter, and they brought me chunky.
Please, Mr. DiNorscio, this isn't my department.
Take it up at M.C.C.
Lunch. Hour and a half.
He's facing life, and all that stupid bastard can think about is lunch.
Yeah, lunch on this, counselor.
Tell me,Jackie, which is easier...
jerkin' off in your cot or sittin' up in your chair?
I like to rub around in my chair.
Yeah, I figured. That's why I had it removed.
- You mother- - Jackie, what are you doing?
You cocksucker, you took my fuckin' chair?
- I'll fuckin' kill you! He took my chair! - What are you doing?
- You're gonna ruin everything. - That's how come I can't sleep at night.
Okay? You swing at him in this courthouse, Judge Finestein will throw you out.
- This case is over for you! - Can he do that?
The only way we're gonna find out is after he's done it. You wanna risk that?
I'm telling you something, Klandis.
He says another thing to me, I swear to God, I'm gonna fuckin' crack him.
Jackie, come on now.
You gotta get a hold of yourself. You're gonna be the only person...
who is disbarred without being a lawyer in the first place, come on.
- Did-You're funny. - Let's go get some lunch.
You like peanut butter?
- What, are you starting again? - No, I mean creamy or chunky.
- Some people like chunky. - All right. Come on. Yes.
How come you're losing weight and I'm gaining?
We're working the same case, same hours. We eat the same lousy food.
Yours goes right through you, and mine gets stored on my ass.
- You nearly got him, Sean. - That's not good enough. Gotta take him out.
You know what I heard one of the lady jurors say today?
She said he was cute.
Cute?
What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Does she have any idea how much money these bastards cost her?
If a hammer and a nail are used on her house, her daughter's apartment...
every fuckin' thing is costing her more because of these cute guys.
She sees a truck carrying concrete, she's paying for it.
Garbage being picked up at a restaurant, she's paying for it.
She buys perfume from France, gloves from Italy...
she's paying more because it came off a fuckin' boat!
Not to mention, that they fuckin' kill people from time to time!
He's nervous. Compagna's coming up.
And was it in November, Agent Brandon...
- that your team planted bugs in that establishment? - Yes.
Play the tape, please.
- Sometimes you guys amuse me. - Uh, Mr. Kierney, hold on.
The, uh, court will take a temporary recess.
Mr. DiNorscio, I'd like to see you in my chambers.
Yeah, come in.
Hey,Jackie.
- You hungry? - No, I'm fine.
Come. Sit, please.
You're sure? I could order out something.
I'm okay,Judge.
How about a, uh- a drink?
No,Judge.
Jackie, your, uh-
your mother.
My mother? What about my mother,Judge?
Jackie, I've just been informed that your mother passed away early this-
- Oh! - I'm sor-
- Jackie, I'm so sorry,Jackie. - No, no, no, please,Judge.
Jackie, is there anything I can do?
Mm-mmm.
I'd like to go to the funeral.
I can't. I-Jackie, I can't do that.
I- I don't have the power to release you to attend the funeral.
Look,Jackie, you're the prisoner of another jurisdiction.
They have to authorize it.
I'll tell you what. I'll callJudge Diamond. I'll see what I can do.
It's too late.
Jackie, you got a visitor.
Yo, shut your traps and keep walking.
Where we going?
No smokin' here, ma'am.
Hiya, Bella.
Hiya.
I'm sorry,Jackie, but I heard... about your mama.
Who'd you hear from?
Your sister called.
The funeral's on Friday. She wants me to come.
Your mother and I, we liked each other.
Yeah.
Well, uh, you want me to bring you something? Your blue suit?
They're not gonna let me go.
They, uh- Thejudge said that he couldn't let me out for the day.
Well, how can they do that? She's your mother.
That's what I said.
You got a pencil or a pen or something? I wanna stab somebody.
So help me God if I did, I'd give it to you...
- but they strip-searched me before I came in here. - They what?
- They strip-searched you? - Yeah. Don't- It was a-
- Those sons a- No! - It was a woman. Yes, a woman guard.
That's it. A woman guard did it. At least I think it was a woman.
She had long hair and a big ass.
Christ, Bella, what I put you through.
Your my wife, for Christ's sake.
Was your wife.
Oh, that's right. I forgot. Is there anyone I haven't fucked over?
Not that I know of.
I can't believe you came to see me.
Why, after all I've done to you?
You did a lot of bad things.
But you did some good things too.
Like what?
You were good in the sack.
So were you.
Yeah? So why did you need all those fuckin' whores for?
Come on. You're gonna start now, Bella?
What, I wasn't enough? Did I ever turn you down?
Did I ever not give you what you wanted? Even if it made me feel shitty afterwards.
- Bella, I'm a man. That's what men are supposed- - Fuck you!
That's what the DiNorscio men do.
I bet you couldn't even get it up if it was just the two of us missionary style.
More, more, more. More broads, more coke, more money.
More! Well, now you got more days in jail than the rest of your fuckin' life...
and you can't even get one of them back to bury your fuckin' mother.
No matter what I was doing, I always loved you, Bella.
Yeah, well, it's too bad your fuckin' cock didn't know it.
- Well, it sort of has a life of its own. - Oh!
Come on, Bella. What the fuck we fightin' about?
We're fightin' about fuckin'.
Time is fleeting, Bella.
Who knows? Maybe I'm next in line.
Not you.
God left you a long time ago, and the devil is scared of you.
He should be.
But you was never scared of me.
No, I never was.
That's why I liked you, even when we was kids.
- There was nothing that ever scared you. - Nothin'.
Oh, my God.
Time's up.
- What, were you watchin'? - Let's go.
- All right, give me- - Jackie,Jackie.
- I got it. Let's go. - Come on.
Easy,Jackie.
- Move your ass. - I got him. Come on,Jackie.
Keep it nice.
You want me to come back and finish the job, lady?
So, why this meeting, Sean?
Your Honor, Ben...
obviously after 19 months, I feel we've made a good case.
And after Compagna testifies next week, I think we're home.
Despite that, I wanna offer a deal.
Not because I think we're weak, I don't.
But we never know what a jury will do.
My heart and soul are in this case.
I don't wanna risk one of these guys walkin;
I'd rather offer less of a sentence now than risk any of them walking.
I'm- I'm listening.
Okay, all your guys plead guilty.
Twenty for Nick and the Mascarpone brothers. They're the ones I really want.
Seven and a half to 10 for everybody else, except forJackie.
For him, five to run concurrent with his present sentence.
And a contract for a new late-night show at ABC.
That's as funny as the rest of your offer.
- Ben, are you laughing at him or with him? - How do you mean?
If you're laughing at him, you're turning him down.
If you're laughing with him, you're negotiating.
Let me talk to the guys.
So, that's their proposition.
- That's good news you're bringing, Ben. - How do you mean?
Well, you don't get an offer if they think they made their case. It's as simple as that.
That's usually the way it works, but we got a big question mark here.
Your fucking cousin,Jackie, how is he gonna testify?
Is he gonna cry? Is he gonna break their hearts?
It doesn't matter how he'll testify. I'll destroy him.
Like you destroyed McQueen? Come on,Jackie, everybody.
Please, leave your egos out of this.
It's a serious offer. Go ahead, Frank.
There are 20 lawyers in this room with what, over 300 years of experience?
Can one of you say he hasn't been stunned?
Stunned? Hell, knocked cockeyed with surprise...
at a verdict by a jury, raise your hand.
How would you vote, Frank?
My client is a sick guy falling out ofbed at his own trial.
Seven and a half to 10. Out in four ifhe doesn't get out sooner for medical reasons.
- I can't see how we can turn it down. - Now, hold on, Frank.
My client, Ben's client, they're facing three times that.
Granted. It's tougher, but let's be honest.
They're facing life if they go down.
Okay, everybody, we'll sleep on it.
We'll meet here tomorrow at 8.;00 a. m., and the defendants will vote.
Let me just say one thing.
I think we all need to be unanimous on this.
If some take it, it practically screams the other guys are guilty.
- So, united, okay? - Agreed.
Can I say something?
For me, it's easy. I still got a long time on my old sentence.
God knows I love you guys. I wouldn't do nothin' to hurt youse.
Stop with the love shit,Jackie. Just say your piece.
When I got indicted on this-
Geez, what is it, Ben, three years ago?-
they offered me a deal.
I said no, naturally.
Then, while I'm out on bail on the RICO charge...
they pick me up again on the dope charge...
the one I'm doing time on now.
Now, I'm not a jerk-off. I know what the hell they're doing.
They're using the second case so they can pressure me on the first, right?
So now I'm serving my 30.
This trial finally gets here...
and they offer me another deal.
This time they've got shrimp cocktail.
They got steaks. They got wines.
I tell Mr. Kierney to go fuck yourself.
Now, most of you gumps get to go home every night.
You got hot meals waitin' for you.
You got some warm pussy waitin' for you.
That is, if your wife's out of town.
Not me.
I go back to the Manhattan Correctional every day.
The meals ain't that great.
And my only pussy is my right hand.
And I'm still sayin'...
Jackie Dee don't rat.
Jackie Dee won't ever rat.
I was raised with a different kind of loyalty. You know what I mean.
I vote no.
I also vote no.
- I also vote no. - I vote no.
Putie. No.
- I vote no, gooms. - I vote no,Jackie.
- I vote no. - Me too, no.
- My vote is no. - I have to agree with Jackie.
- Fuck 'em. - Fuck 'em. I vote no.
- No. - I vote no, Nick.
- No. - Done. That's it.
- Done deal. - It's agreed.
Yeah, done.
I, uh- I guess the answer is no.
Compagna's phone tapes don't show any calls from Jackie.
And the prison phone log doesn't show Jackie calling Compagna.
Sean, you're worrying needlessly.
You know why I've won every case I've been on?
Because I worry needlessly.
What if those two guineas have conspired to fuck us on Monday?
We can't risk it. Do you understand?
Sean, we've checked everything.
What about his jail cell?
I want it stripped down. I want every piece of paper that exists.
Turn that fuckin' place upside down.
If they've had contact, I have to know it.
This-This is the whole ball game.
Take off the sweats. Strip search.
What? Strip search?
- Get up. Help me here. - Open 'em up.
Open 'em up.
- You want some of this? - Here. I'll help you out.
Here it comes, big guy. Ready? Here it comes.
Jesus,Jesse, he has to be in court on Monday. I hope he can walk by then.
Look at his face. What's the judge gonna say?
Jackie knows the rules. Right,Jackie? What happened to you?
- I fell. - See?
My apologies to the court.
I thought everybody loved you,Jackie.
Mr. Kierney.
The prosecution calls Anthony Compagna to the stand.
Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth...
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
- I do. - Mr. Compagna...
did there come a time when you made contact with the F.B.I.?
- Yes. - And at such time...
did you agree to become a cooperating witness?
Yeah, I did.
- Why? - Because I feared for my life.
And why did you fear for your life?
Uh, because I shot one of the defendants,Jackie DiNorscio.
And what is your relationship to Mr. DiNorscio?
Cousin. We grew up together.
And what was it about the shooting that made you fear for your life?
Well, 'cause I missed.
And are you familiar with the defendants Gino Mascarpone...
- and Nick Calabrese? - Yeah.
Yeah, it went like this.
I worked forJackie handling the numbers and drugs.
And Jackie reported to Gino. And Calabrese was boss of it all.
Are you familiar with any of the other defendants?
Yeah. Every one of these guys were in different rackets together.
- Objection! - Objection! - Overruled.
Then, Mr. Compagna, if you were involved in crimes...
with your cousin and the other defendants...
why did you shootJackie DiNorscio?
Well, you see, I was in the gem business with Jackie.
We used to get suckers to invest in colored gemstones...
and when they went to sell them, they found out they weren't worth all that much.
We was doin' good. Jackie was the closest person in the world to me at that point.
- And what changed all that? - Jackie started stealing from the company.
Little by little, the business went downhill. Finally it went bust.
I was without a job. Pretty soon out of money.
Uh,Jackie had other businesses going. He could have got me work that way.
I turned to him for help. He won't even help me.
He won't even talk to me.
So, one morning, I headed forJackie's house.
I was mad atJackie. I was- I was desperate.
Can you describe what happened next?
I went into his room- I wasn't even thinking-
I ran into his room and I shot him.
I was scared. I ran out.
And then what happened?
Uh, I was picked up by the cops a couple days later.
When they charged me with attempted murder, that's when I knew Jackie was still alive.
- I was scared. - And then what?
A detective comes in, and he says, "Okay, you can go. "
Jackie just signed a statement says you didn't got nothing to do with the shooting.
- So that's when I knew. - Knew what, Mr. Compagna?
The boys didn't want me in jail at all.
Jackie wanted me back out on the street so they could deal with me in their own way.
So that's when I went to the F.B.I. and agreed to cooperate.
Thank you, Mr. Compagna.
Your witness.
Mr. Compagna, isn't it true that you had undergone psychiatric...
and electric shock treatment even before agreeing to cooperate with the government?
Yeah, I had some treatment. So what?
And during this period that you allege you observed these men...
involved in racketeering and other crimes...
you were under the influence of heroin?
I took heroin sometimes.
And cocaine.
Yeah.
Marijuana? Quaaludes?
- Sometimes. - And methadone?
Shall I take your silence as a yes answer?
I'll tell you what we'll do. I'll call them off, and you tell me when I'm wrong.
Valium. Dilaudid. Doriden. Darvocet.
Seconal. Percodan. Percocet. Librium.
I was having a tough time then, all right?
I took whatever I could to make it through the day.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Mr. DiNorscio,you wanna tell me what happened?
I fell.
Coz, could you repeat what you told Mr. Kierney...
when he asked you to describe our relationship?
I said you were the closest person in the world to me.
Do you always shoot those that are close to you?
Mr. Klandis asked you about all those drugs you took.
And I wanna know, are you on any now?
- No. - The reason I'm asking...
is I wanna make sure that you're not blocking anything out while your testifying.
No, I ain't, I ain't. I told everything I know.
Then tell me something.
Why'd you say I stole from our business?
'Cause it was obvious that you did.
You know that these prosecutors went to everybody else at that company...
and you were the only one that said that I stole?
Oh, I-I don't know about that.
You're blockin; Tony.
You testified that you were mad at me. Why would you be mad at me?
You- 'Cause you-you would give money to everybody else.
- What did I tell you? - But not me. You gave money to your friends...
your broads, your dealers, anybody, but not me.
Tony, what did I tell you?
I stopped giving you money 'cause you were using it...
- just to go out and buy more drugs, right? - I-
Look at me, Tony.
Why aren't you lookin'at me, Tony?
Remember when we were kids? Remember all our lives?
Whenever we lied to each other we couldn't face each other.
That's when we knew we were lyin; just like you're doin'now.
Objection.!
Questions. Just ask questions, Mr. DiNorscio.
When your mother died, Tony...
do you know who paid for her funeral?
- The insurance. - Mm-mmm.
I did.
Ask your sister. She's sittin'right there.
If you did pay for her funeral, thank you.
Tell me something.
After you shot me...
did I go runnin'to the cops?
No, I didn't.
Why'd you go run to the F.B.I.?
I told you, I feared for my life.
Now, Tony, isn't it true that once you ran to the government...
you were able to get all the drugs that you wanted?
- Objection. - Overruled.
I needed- I needed treatment. They were willing to help me.
Help you? The government didn't help you.
The government gave you anything you wanted as long as you helped them...
put men you've known your whole life in jail.
Ain't that right?
Ain't it?
They said if I wanted protection that I had to testify against everybody.
Remember that day that you shot me?
- There was someone else in that house, wasn't there? - No.
You're blockin'again, Tony.
Wasn't my daughter in that house?
Not some stranger, but your own blood?
So? You were the only one I had anything against.
What did I say to you when you shot me?
I don't remember.
- Tell 'em. - I told you I don't remember.
You can't say it, can you?
You don't remember me saying, "My God...
why are you doing this to me, Coz? I love you"?
You remember that. You just couldn't say it, could you?
Remember what you did after I said I loved you?
You shot me three more times.
Tony, look at me.
Tony.
You hurt me bad.
I thought I was gonna die.
I'm so- I'm sorry I shot you.
Are you sorry you shot me, or are you sorry you didn't kill me?
Both.
Let me ask you one more question, Tony.
Do you believe... that I still love you?
No.
I can't get next to this guy,Judge.
I don't wanna cross-examine him anymore.
I don't wanna talk to him.
Any redirect?
No, Your Honor.
Okay, if there are no further questions, that's it for the day.
Twenty-one months.
Sometimes-
Sometimes I get up to pee in the wee small hours...
and I can't get back to sleep.
That's never happened to me before.
Now we'll hear the closing arguments. Mr. Kierney?
Ladies and gentlemen...
I wanna congratulate you on entering the Guinness Book of World Records.
You're part of the longest criminal trial in American history.
I'm not proud of that.
I know it's put enormous strain on all concerned.
But from all these details...
a collective power emerges.
If you walk away with only one impression from these 22 months...
let it be this:
The men you see before you have engaged in all sorts of criminal activities...
for decades, decades!
With utter disregard for the law.
And they deserve to be punished by society for these crimes.
Now the defense will try to distract you from this undeniable fact...
by complaining that the prosecution witnesses are junkies, crooks...
strong-arm guys and worse.
Well, maybe some of them are. But these defendants...
if they know any honest citizens...
never have any dealings with them.
Now, we've had our share of big personalities in this trial.
I ask you not to let personalities play any part here.
But that you focus specifically...
on the overwhelming physical evidence that has been presented.
I thank you for your time...
and I thank you for your patience...
in performing your duty as law-abiding citizens.
Thank you.
Even to a point where his health broke down, was there a direct connection?
How many of you could have gone through with this trial-
How many times was he named in this trial?
Twice. Twice in a year and 10 months.
Has my client been in jail? Yes. But have we reached a point under the RICO Act...
where we indict a man for past crimes he's already done time for?
I representJimmy Katz. You've heard him referred to as Jimmy theJew.
How come the government had one defendant whose name did not end in a vowel?
- I'll tell you how come- - Gino Mascarpone is being persecuted...
because his name ends in a vowel.
Mr. Klandis?
Ladies and gentlemen, the prosecution took great pains...
to point out that my client and his friends...
knew the sordid array of misfits they used as witnesses.
They want you to believe that these men spent their lives...
with the criminal element you saw in this courtroom.
I wanna offer you a different part of Carlo Mascarpone's life...
and I'm sure the lives of these other defendants as well.
Wife, children...
his priest, his M.D.
The guy who pumps his gas and inspects his car for him.
In other words, the hundred-odd people...
whose lives he touches every day, every week.
Leading a life very much like yours.
The government brought you witnesses...
government informants, who, because of the lives they have led...
have lost the ability to tell the difference between truth and lies.
These highly-paid informants...
came to the government in various ways...
but there is one constant.
They all came in handcuffs.
The government does not like these defendants.
They don't like the neighborhood they come from.
They don't like the way they talk.
They don't like their tradition, their culture.
But we are a nation of laws, not men.
The purpose of the prosecutor, much like the purpose of the grand jury...
is to search for truth.
But somehow in this case that was lost.
The prosecutor became the persecutor.
Win at any cost.
I thank you all for your time.
And now I pass my client's fate into your hands.
Phone call,Jackie.
- Yeah? - Uh,just...
- wonderin' how you're doin'? - Oh, hiya, Ben.
Well, I'm- I'm kind of nervous.
I was, uh, putting down some thoughts for tomorrow.
I don't wanna fuck up like I did.
Ah, I don't think you will,Jackie.
You was terrific this week, Ben.
Uh, if we don't make it, it won't be your fault.
And you were terrific, the whole trial,Jackie.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Ben.
That means a lot to me coming from you.
- All right. - Okay.
- I'll see you tomorrow. - Good night,Jackie.
Mr. DiNorscio?
"Ladies and gentlemen, I won't take up too much more of your time.
"It's been a long trial, and I don't want you to be away from your families...
"any longer than you have to.
"I realize I said a lot of things in this courtroom...
"and I hope I didn't offend nobody.
But I just wanted to show you that I'm not a gangster. I'm just a gagster. "
I'm not gonna read from this.
I promised you a long time ago...
I would speak from the heart.
Now, I know the government tried piling up all this evidence in front of you.
They showed you photos, and you think it's me and my friends meeting together...
it's probably some kind of criminal conspiracy.
You see this picture?
You recognize that one in the middle?
That's me.
The rest of the guys are some of these men here as children.
This was, of course, way long before the government ever knew whoJackie DiNorscio was...
who was standing on a corner outside of an ice-cream parlor.
And you know what we were doing that day? We were conspiring to buy ice cream.
If they had a RICO law back then, they probably would have locked us up.
Now, I know it's-
it's tough to decide who to believe in this case.
For 600 days, you guys have been sittin' here.
They came in with tape after tape, witness after witness.
And they were trying to fill your mind with so much baloney...
that in the end you'd think, "Oh, God, there's so much there.
There has to be something to it. "
Ladies and gentlemen...
if you believe anything...
that any of those witnesses has said...
or if you feel that the prosecutor was right...
then I beg you...
please, don't take it out on my friends here.
If you have to blame someone...
then find me guilty.
You heard me right.
Find me guilty, and let these men go home to their families.
You see, I already lost mine.
And I don't want their kids to lose their fathers 'cause of UncleJackie.
So, send me to jail.
I'm not guilty, but I'm used to it.
That's all. I have nothing more to say. Thank you for your time and attention.
I don't doubt for a minute that you'll use them well to reach a just verdict.
The jury will now retire.
Well, it's over finally.
- What do you think, Ben? - It's gotta be at least four days of deliberation.
I agree. Where will you be?
At the office or home. I wanna get some sleep.
- But you won't be able to. - I know.
Sean.
So what's your feeling about how long?
Twenty defendants, 76 charges...
we'll be lucky if we're back here in a week.
I agree. I'm going home.
Let's go,Jackie Dee. Jury's reached a verdict.
Hey, boss. Um, boss? The jury's coming in.
- What? - The jury's coming in.
They've only been out about 14 hours. I don't believe it.
Let's move it, chief.
I can't believe they've reached a verdict this fast.
- What does it mean, Ben? - God only knows.
Coming in this fast, good sign or bad sign?
God only knows.
Be careful now,Jeanie. All right? Come here. Come on.
It's gonna be okay. Don't worry about it.
Make sure you call my mother every night, all right?
It'll be okay. It's okay. It's okay.
You okay, Nick?
My nerves are shot.
If the fuckin' feds offered me a deal right now, I'd take it.
Yo, come on, go ahead. Watch your back, huh, please? God Almighty.
- I love you guys. - I love you too. You're the best.
Rose. You tell the kids UncleJackie said hello.
You were great in there.
- Hey, hey, hey. - Jackie, I love you.
You were great in there, baby. Thanks for everything.
- They treatin' you all right? - Don't give her money in front of everybody.
- Joe, you know? - You drive me crazy.
- Heya,Jackie. - Hey, pal.
Heya, Nick. I did the best I could.
You're a prick.
Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats, please. Jury's coming in.
Heya.
Madame Forewoman, have you reached a verdict?
We have.
Is your verdict as to all the defendants, as to all counts...
- or is it a partial verdict? - It's to all defendants and all counts.
What is your verdict?
We find all the defendants not guilty.
- Ben! Oh, Ben! - We did it, baby!
Hey, the jury! The jury!
Come on. Hey, come here. Hey, come on, please.
Please.
This is unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Hey,Jackie. It's Jackie. You did great. I love ya!
- You're the best! - You're the best!
Thank you.
I love you guys.
Hey, guy, looks, it's Jackie!
- We did it! - Way to go!
You saw that? You saw that?
Huh? You saw what we did?
You saw it! We got 'em! You saw that?
We did it! We crushed 'em! We got 'em! We got 'em!
Whack! You saw that?
We did it! I'm a lawyer!
Thank you.
Jackie.!Jackie.!
They love me.