"Hey, did you hear the news? " Harry, the blind cashier at the courthouse snack shop asked the unsuspecting lawyer, Lillian Jacobs. "What Harry?" she replied as she tried to balance her coffee, her briefcase and her somewhat stale, chocolate Dunkin Donut. "The judge in the Cabalini case has ordered all the wiretaps suppressed and it looks like all the mobsters in town are going to get out of jail." "Thanks for the info Harry" Lillian quipped as she shuffled off to the Daily Calender, still trying to figure out which hand to use to hold what.
The Cabalini case had been in and out of the news for the past three years. Carmen Cabalini was the alleged boss of an alleged crime family that spread back five decades. He had been indicted along with several alleged associates for Racketeering. No one had apparently told Carmen... that "the mob" was dead. No one had told the government that the alleged associates were more enemies of one another than co-conspirators.
Carmen, who always dressed in $3000 custom suits, whether or not he could afford them, ..continued to assert to everyone who'd listen that he could have this done.. or that done.. that if things didn't go his way that he could have things "taken care of." The problem was was that there were no "associates" to carry out any alleged "orders" from "the boss." Everybody in today's world was out for themselves..pure and simple.. The individuals charged couldn't agree on what to order for breakfast much less agree on carrying out any criminal activity.
The government's case against them was built on wiretaps. Wiretaps conducted by the government over the past 25 years with the assistance of two of the alleged "co-conspirators." These wiretaps were conducted everywhere. In restaurants, in social clubs, in cars, in mailboxes, (supposedly two "uncharged co-conspirators" would meet next to a particular mailbox, smoke cigars and discuss "family" business on a regular basis during the 80's) even at the beach with the assistance of high tech microphones. Twenty five years of often drunken banter of who had the "power" to do what.
One of the problems was that the tapes were not complete. Yes, the government agents would select when to turn the tapes on or off, when to edit particular conversations to make them sound more incriminating and when to destroy any tape that may be helpful to the defense. One agent was even caught on a tape that was left running (and accidentally given to the defense) saying that another agent had thrown the tapes away.
Another problem, cited by Judge Wilson when he orally announced his decision in Courtroom Nine that morning, was that two of the co-defendants not only had been helping the government to get the wiretaps as top secret informants. (Courtroom Nine was being used by Judge Wilson because a chemical spill in the bathroom next to his courtroom, No.5, left the place with such a noxious odor that Judge Wilson believed that a better environment was necessary for him to announce his landmark ruling.) It was clear to the judge that these individuals, with the assistance of government agents, were using the wiretaps and subsequent arrests for their own benefit, to knock of the competition. What the judge found extremely disturbing was that the courts who issued the wiretaps were never told about these individuals and their roles. According to Judge Wilson, "the government agents were in bed with the wolves." Each word of his pronouncement was one indictment then another of the government agents and the prosecutors who sought the wiretaps on behalf of the agents. "This unlawful and unprofessional conduct will not be tolerated" he declared.. "I therefore rule"........
There was complete silence in the courtroom. Everybody knew that the judge was going to throw out the wiretaps because parts of his written decision had somehow leaked out and published by a columnist in the City Herald. (These leaks had happened before and no one could prove who was to blame.) The defendants and their lawyers were smiling cheerfully. The defendants' family members were hugging each other. The prosecutors were, understandably, moping quietly in their seats, in fear of not only what was in store, but also anxious about how much work would be ahead in the appeal process. This case had already lasted three and a half years and they foresaw several more in store..
"I therefore rule that based upon each of the factors I have mentioned I am bound under the Constitution and the laws of these United States to suppress as evidence each and every wiretap utilizing these informants (which was, in fact all the thousands of hours of wiretaps that were being used in this and every other mob related case for 25 years)." Now, people couldn't restrain themselves. One family member screamed out: "Yes! Yes!" The defendants were now jumping out of their seats ... the Marshals didn't even move in to control them.. Then the Judge yelled: "Order.. Sit Down.. There will be Order in the Courtroom." Silence again befell the courtroom but the smiles could not be removed from the defendants' faces...
"The fact that I have suppressed this evidence.. does not mean, however, that this case comes to a close." Glaring down at the defendants and pointing his finger, Judge Wilson continued... "If anyone of you think you're out of here your sadly mistaken....I have reviewed the numerous volumes of other evidence in this case and I find by clear and convincing evidence that each of those items of evidence are untainted by the suppressed evidence and that it all would have been obtained in the absence of the wiretaps.. Let there be no mistake.... WE ARE GOING TO TRIAL..."
Dead silence... The only smiles now were from the prosecutors....
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