Lawyers for Bonanno mobster want rap sheet off limits
Attorneys for accused Lufthansa-heist wiseguy Vincent Asaro don’t want jurors to hear about his decades-long rap sheet, according to a new Brooklyn federal court filing.
The Bonanno crime-family veteran — who faces life in prison if convicted on a slew of mob-related allegations — is charged with playing a key role in the legendary 1978 robbery of a JFK cargo terminal.
The heist was immortalized in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 mob classic, “Goodfellas.”
The feds want jurors to hear about large chunks of Asaro’s voluminous criminal catalog — even including a serious heroin addiction in his 20s and a propensity for car theft in the 1960s.
But defense attorney Elizabeth Macedonio ripped the effort, arguing that the ancient activity would prejudice the jury against Asaro.
“The illegal propensity evidence consists of decades-old acts designed to arouse the jury’s emotions and invite it to convict on an improper basis,” she wrote.
The feds maintain that the increasingly wobbly mafioso, now 79, blew much of his alleged haul from the Lufthansa job at horse-race tracks.
The Bonanno crime-family veteran — who faces life in prison if convicted on a slew of mob-related allegations — is charged with playing a key role in the legendary 1978 robbery of a JFK cargo terminal.
The heist was immortalized in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 mob classic, “Goodfellas.”
The feds want jurors to hear about large chunks of Asaro’s voluminous criminal catalog — even including a serious heroin addiction in his 20s and a propensity for car theft in the 1960s.
But defense attorney Elizabeth Macedonio ripped the effort, arguing that the ancient activity would prejudice the jury against Asaro.
“The illegal propensity evidence consists of decades-old acts designed to arouse the jury’s emotions and invite it to convict on an improper basis,” she wrote.
The feds maintain that the increasingly wobbly mafioso, now 79, blew much of his alleged haul from the Lufthansa job at horse-race tracks.
http://nypost.com/2015/07/02/attorneys-for-goodfellas-mobster-want-rap-sheet-off-limits/
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