Questions abound on whether mafia soldier will testify in his own defense
Anthony Nicodemo smiled and waved to family members and
friends as he left the 11th floor courtroom this afternoon following a second
day of testimony in his murder trial.
The burly, 42-year-old mobster, who is facing a potential
life sentence, appeared calm and relaxed as he headed back to the prison cell
he has occupied since his arrest minutes after Gino DiPietro was gunned down on
a South Philadelphia street more than two years ago.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo could wrap up his
case tomorrow. Court does not meet on Friday. That would set the stage for what
might be the biggest decision in Nicodemo's life. Does he take the stand in his
own defense?
A gag ordered imposed by Judge Jeffrey Minehart bars Zarallo
and defense attorney Brian McMonagle from commenting about the proceedings.
Several sources, however, say that McMonagle has not decided if he will put his
client on the stand when the defense portion of the trial begins sometime next
week.
The case against Nicodemo is entirely circumstantial but the
evidence linking him to the crime is difficult to ignore or explain away. The
key elements are these:
- Nicodemo's black Honda Pilot was spotted speeding away
from the shooting scene seconds after a masked gunman jumped into the vehicle which
was parked in an alleyway less than a block from where DiPietro was gunned down
on the afternoon of Dec. 12, 2012.
- A .357 magnum, which has been identified as the murder
weapon, was found in the Honda Pilot.
The District Attorney's Office has conceded that Nicodemo
was not the shoote. Zarallo has implied that Dominic Grande, a close associate
of Nicodemo's, is the suspected hitman. Grande, the son and nephew of
Philadelphia mobsters jailed in the 1980s, has not been charged.
After a defense motion aimed at barring the introduction of
the murder weapon as evidence failed, McMonagle offered an opening statement
clearly designed to explain away the two key elements that tie his client to
the crime.
He conceded that it was Nicodemo's Honda Pilot in which the
gunman fled the murder scene. But he told the jury that his client was unaware
of what had happened and was accosted by the unknown gunman who forced him to
drive away. The gunman later jumped out of the car, but left the murder weapon
behind.
Will Nicodemo get on the stand and tell the jury exactly
what happened in his Honda Pilot that afternoon?
Will he expanded on the carjacking defense?
How will he respond to what are sure to be questions from
Zarallo about why he never offered that explanation when police came to his
home minutes after the shooting and placed him in custody?
What will he say when Zarallo asked him why he didn't report
the carjacking to police?
Testimony today, largely from police, focused on the
circumstances surrounding Nicodemo's arrest
and on evidence gathered there and at the murder scene.
A witness at the murder scene got the license tag of the
Honda Pilot as it sped away. Nicodemo's home was less than a five-minute ride
from where DiPietro was killed. Police were knocking on his door less than 30
minutes after the shooting. They found the Honda Pilot, its engine still warm,
parked behind the house. Later, after obtaining a search, they found the gun
behind the driver's seat.
Police who went to Nicodemo's house testified that the front
door was ajar but that at first he didn't respond to knocks on the door. Sgt.
Andrew Callaghan testified that he hollered into the house, "Police.
Anthony why don't you come out and make it easier on yourself?"
Seconds later, Callaghan said, Nicodemo appeared at the door
and surrendered to police. He was handcuffed and placed in a squad car. The
only thing he said, according to Callaghan, was that he had been working in his
house and was waiting for his wife and children to get home.
Callaghan, a twenty-five year police veteran, said Nicodemo
was "sweating profusely" and that when he patted him down he felt his
heart pounding "like someone who had just run a marathon." He said
when he and other officers later searched the home, with Nicodemo's permission,
he expected to find exercise equipment, assuming Nicodemo had been working out.
But there was none.
Under cross-examination from McMonagle, Callaghan
acknowledged that when Nicodemo first came out of the house, police had drawn
their guns and were pointing them out him.
"People with guns pointed out the, tend to sweat, don't
they?" McMonagle asked.
Callaghan said that was true, but repeated that Nicodemo
seemed to be sweating in the extreme. None of the police officers or detectives
questioned today were asked about a carjacking and there has been no indication
that Nicodemo mentioned it to anyone when he was taken into custody.
How he explains that, if he takes the stand, could go a long
way toward determining his future. Another concern in the defense camp,
according to sources, is whether Nicodemo would be able to keep his temper in
check under cross-examination.
"He's got a short fuse," said one source who knows
him.
Should he opt to testify, Nicodemo could also open himself
up to questions about past criminal problems. He has a prior gambling conviction
tied to an alleged organized crime betting ring operating out of the high
stakes poker room at the Borgota casino-hotel in Atlantic City. He pleaded
guilty and was sentenced to four months in that case. A New Jersey State Police
affidavit that was part of that investigation identified him as a suspect in
the 2003 murder of mobster John "Johnny gongs" Casasanto.
The Casasanto murder is one of three gangland homicides
still under investigation by federal authorities. While organized crime has not
been mentioned by any of the witnesses in the trial, Mark Pinero, a
Philadelphia Police detective long assigned to the FBI's Organized Crime squad,
has been in court each day monitoring the testimony. And today two members of
the Police Department's Organized Crime Unit were also in and out of the
courtroom.
Federal authorities have privately indicated that they hoped
the leverage of the DiPietro murder charge might be enough to convince Nicodemo
that his only recourse was to cooperate. Thus far, that hasn't happened. But
the stakes continue to increase as the trial moves closer to jury deliberation.
"He's got a beautiful wife and two young
children," said one source. "He may never get to be with them again.
That's what his risking. And for what?"
http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/05/will-nicodemo-take-stand.html#9KGLiR0ytrmdhziH.99
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