By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Keeping a record in court is a good idea.
But mob expert Jerry Capeci of Gang Land News reports that some how that idea got the short shrift back on December 15, 2008, and no court transcript was ever produced when Colombo soldier Joseph (Joe Caves) Competiello admitted in a sealed Brooklyn federal courtroom that he played a role in the execution of NY cop Ralph Dols. He also admitted having a hand in four mob slayings.
Gangland News described the oversight as a major league foul up.
Last week, the feds had to deal with the problem involving the mobster, who is a prosecution witness in a current case against his former crime family’s boss, Thomas Gioeli, in a murder and racketeering trial.
Gangland News reports that the judge in that case gathered people who were present in the 2008 proceeding, in hopes of reconstructing some kind of transcript to provide to the defense, which could use the materials to impeach the mobster during cross-examination.
But Gangland writes: “And today, not one person who took part in that secret proceeding remembers anything about what Competiello stated that day about his involvement in the execution.
“The slip-up occurred even though everyone in court that day –including three assistant U.S. attorneys, Competiello’s attorney, the judge, and the court reporter – all knew that at some point, Joe Caves would likely be a prosecution witness,” Gang Land writes. “They also knew that when that day came, the government would be required to give a transcript of the guilty plea to lawyers for the defendants.”
Capeci reports that the screw up was first reported in the New York Daily News.
