Judge tells prosecutor not to show cop's wife photo in mob case
Federal Bureau of Investigation 2007 federal prison mugshot of Joel CacaceLawyers for two gangsters, charged with killing a cop because he had married a Colombo crime boss’ ex-wife, have made sure a Brooklyn jury won’t see the couple together.
They convinced Federal Judge Brian Cogan to preclude the prosecutor from showing jurors a photo of slain cop Ralph Dols with wife, Kim Kennaugh.
“It’s a picture of the woman who he was killed over,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Posa said Thursday, according to a transcript of the sidebar discussion.
Prosecutors contend that defendants Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli and Dino Saracino carried out the hit on the orders of then-Colombo consigliere Joel Cacace who felt disrespected by his ex-wife marrying a cop.
“She is the motive,” Posa argued to no avail. “So far she is nothing but a name on the page.”
“She (Kennaugh) should be just a name on the page,” Cogan said.
The judge ordered her to fold the picture in half showing only Dols, ruling that the wife’s photo was not relevant and prejudicial to the goons on trial.
Kennaugh, who has not been attending the trial, told the Daily News she is “outraged” by the legal shenanigans.
“Ralph was happily married with a beautiful newborn baby daughter and we were very much in love,” she said. “They (the defense) should stop making it seem like I don’t exist or Ralph’s daughter or what they did. I can’t believe the judge did that.”
Two hit men in Dols’ murder testified earlier in the trial that they were not told by Gioeli that the victim was a cop.
Dols’ sister Imelda Feria testified that Ralph and Kim stayed a week longer than planned in the Brooklyn apartment building where he was gunned down because their neighbors in Gerritsen Beach where they had purchased a home were having a block party.
“He didn’t want to disrupt the block party so he left (the move) for the following week which was the week he died,” Feria testified.
They convinced Federal Judge Brian Cogan to preclude the prosecutor from showing jurors a photo of slain cop Ralph Dols with wife, Kim Kennaugh.
“It’s a picture of the woman who he was killed over,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Posa said Thursday, according to a transcript of the sidebar discussion.
Prosecutors contend that defendants Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli and Dino Saracino carried out the hit on the orders of then-Colombo consigliere Joel Cacace who felt disrespected by his ex-wife marrying a cop.
“She is the motive,” Posa argued to no avail. “So far she is nothing but a name on the page.”
“She (Kennaugh) should be just a name on the page,” Cogan said.
The judge ordered her to fold the picture in half showing only Dols, ruling that the wife’s photo was not relevant and prejudicial to the goons on trial.
Kennaugh, who has not been attending the trial, told the Daily News she is “outraged” by the legal shenanigans.
“Ralph was happily married with a beautiful newborn baby daughter and we were very much in love,” she said. “They (the defense) should stop making it seem like I don’t exist or Ralph’s daughter or what they did. I can’t believe the judge did that.”
Two hit men in Dols’ murder testified earlier in the trial that they were not told by Gioeli that the victim was a cop.
Dols’ sister Imelda Feria testified that Ralph and Kim stayed a week longer than planned in the Brooklyn apartment building where he was gunned down because their neighbors in Gerritsen Beach where they had purchased a home were having a block party.
“He didn’t want to disrupt the block party so he left (the move) for the following week which was the week he died,” Feria testified.
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