Junior Gotti's lawyer doesn't want rat Little Joey D'Angelo to testify at trial
Junior Gotti's lawyers are attempting to prevent Joseph "Little Joey" D'Angelo from testifying that the mob scion's claim of withdrawal from the Gambino crime family was a scam concocted to skate past the five-year statute of limitations which applies to racketeering conspiracy as reported by Thomas Zambito for the Daily News:
Gotti's lawyers on Friday asked Manhattan Federal Judge Kevin Castel to prevent mobster Joseph (Little Joey) D'Angelo from telling jurors about his 2005 prison chat with the mob scion. Prosecutors said that while the two were in a federal lockup awaiting trial, Gotti told D'Angelo he'd won approval from the heads of New York's mob families to claim he'd withdrawn from the Mafia. Such a strategy violated a long-held mob oath to deny the existence of a secret underworld society at all costs.
Gotti's lawyers reportedly "say the conversation with D'Angelo is protected by the attorney-client privilege since it occurred while the two were discussing a joint defense strategy"; however, Junior's lawyers are unlikely to succeed in preventing D'Angelo from testifying because the attorney-client privilege -- even assuming it applies to the prison chat -- cannot be used to provide cover for an alleged fraudulent scheme.
Earlier this week Judge Castel denied a motion by Junior Gotti's lawyers to postpone the upcoming September 14 trial.
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