NY State Court Failure, FBI abuses
To address FBI malfeasance in Boston the Justice Department brought in a
Special Prosecutor to avoid the coziness among the FBI, state and local law
enforcement agencies. The crooked FBI agent John Connolly is in jail. The US AG
can appoint one in New York to bring a civil rights prosecution for the deaths
in
which DeVecchio allegedly had a part. It is not double jeopardy.
The FBI works with the crime families in more ways than one, something
that J. Edgar Hoover said he feared. Agents helping their informants is not
limited to New York or Boston. All too often there is a relaxed attitude
toward oaths of office and protecting the public which morphs into CYA and
protecting the pension.
No less than Plato raised the issue of who is watching the watchers? After
19 homicides in Boston by an FBI informant (who remains a fugitive) there is
still no cleansing of the police and the FBI in Boston. The corruption remains,
and the politicians remain silent. Until the abuses of power of the FBI (a
creature of statute) are addressed the Constitution is in jeopardy.
Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM
MOLL TAPE A REAL KILLER
DA IS FORCED TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST 'MOB FED' IN SLAY TRIAL
New York Post
By ALEX GINSBERG
Its obvious DeVecchio was crooked- but this chick should go down for perjury for
wasting taxpayer money. She does a taped interview contradicting everything she
testified about and then thinks it won't reappear later. Let's say that
DeVecchio was...
November 1, 2007 -- She was supposed to be the government's star witness.
Instead, a mob moll whacked the Brooklyn DA's blockbuster murder case against a
former FBI agent accused of giving deadly information to the Mafia.
DUNLEAVY: 'This Guy Is Gonna Get Away With Murder'
Prosecutors have decided to dismiss all charges against Lindley DeVecchio after
reviewing tapes of interviews key witness Linda Schiro gave a decade ago that
contradicted much of her testimony this week, sources close to the case said
yesterday.
"The inconsistencies are so devastating that it's just game, set, match," said
one source. "Even without the tapes, it was a tough case."
The stunning legal collapse took place with amazing speed after reports surfaced
late Tuesday that Schiro had given an interview in 1997 in which she
specifically cleared DeVecchio of two murders and failed to mention him in
connection with a third.
"There's no question that she perjured herself in the grand jury and on the
witness stand this week," said DeVecchio lawyer Mark Bederow after listening to
the tapes. "It's not even close to consistent."
He said he had not yet received word from Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes that the
charges were to be dropped.
Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins, who spoke with Schiro in 1997, summarized
the tapes' contents in a story Tuesday on the weekly's Web site.
For example, on the 1992 murder of rival Colombo soldier Larry Lampasi, Schiro
told the Voice, "So that, Lin didn't do . . . I know that for a fact."
In court, she testified that DeVecchio got the victim's address and morning
routine so that Scarpa could kill him.
"Greg put up his thumb and said it was good information," she said.
The news brought the trial to a sudden halt yesterday, with the judge, Gustin
Reichbach, warning Schiro that she was at risk for a perjury charge and
assigning her a court-appointed lawyer. That attorney, Gary Farrell, declined to
comment, as did Hynes' office.
Schiro's daughter, also named Linda, said her mother did not want to comment
last night. But she did defend her mom, saying, "She wasn't under oath at the
time [that she spoke to the reporter.] She was under no obligation to tell the
truth."
She added, "What she says in court in front of a judge is the truth."
Meanwhile, DeVecchio was all smiles yesterday, saying he felt "a little better"
than he had throughout the three weeks of the trial, and retired with his wife
and a gaggle of supporters for a late breakfast while prosecutors and defense
attorneys reviewed the roughly two hours of tapes.
"There were not happy faces in the room - at one end of the table," said one
person present, referring to the prosecutors.
Prosecutors announced the case in March 2006, with Hynes calling it "the most
stunning example of official corruption that I have ever seen."
The allegations were that DeVecchio had leaked sensitive information to his
prized Colombo family source, Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa, that resulted in
four gangland murders.
As the case slowly made its way to trial, it became more apparent that it rested
almost completely on the word of Schiro, Scarpa's longtime girlfriend, who
claimed she'd been present for the conversations.
Her testimony on Monday appeared credible, and although zealous
cross-examination by lawyer Douglas Grover on Tuesday revealed inconsistencies,
it seemed to leave the basic core of facts intact.
Then came the tapes.
Sources familiar with the tapes said Schiro specifically says DeVecchio had
nothing to do with the 1987 murder of Scarpa prot�g�-gone-bad Joseph "Joe
Brewster" DeDomenico, nor with the 1992 killing of Lampasi.
She also fails to mention DeVecchio in connection with the 1984 murder of mob
moll Mary Bari.
Although Schiro does connect him to the 1990 killing of her son's best friend,
Patrick Porco, sources said there were glaring inconsistencies in the two
versions. In 1997, she told Robbins that DeVecchio came to Scarpa's 82nd Street
home to discuss killing Porco.
On Monday, she testified that it was a warning by phone.
A source said Schiro never mentioned the 1997 interview tapes in scores of
meetings with prosecutors in the early days of the case. He said investigators
were totally blindsided when the Robbins story hit the Internet.
Prosecutors have been paying her $2,200 a month for rent and food since March
2006.
"It's not just stubbornness," a source close to the investigation. "I still kind
of believe her. But you just can't go forward. I feel bad for the Porcos,
because if you believe the People's case, that's the one consistent part."
Mary Bari's sister, who did not want to give her name, said she didn't know what
the truth was.
"I don't know what to believe," said the sister, who did not want to give her
name. "Nothing will bring her back. If he's guilty, maybe when he dies he'll be
punished in the final judgment."
Additional reporting by Tom Liddy and Jennifer Fermino
alex.ginsberg@nypost.com
