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Judge Gives Bickering Gotti Jury Twizzlers; Junior May Testify
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 4, 2009
Modified Nov 4, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 4, 2009
Modified Nov 4, 2009
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One day after Judge Kevin Castel tried to broker peace between fighting jurors on the John Gotti, Jr. racketeering trial, the judge tried to sugarcoat the fragile peace... with Twizzlers. Yesterday Castel presented the jury with a big tub of the artificially-flavored twists, offering three reasons for the gift. One, "If you have a Twizzler in your mouth, you can't really have a serious conversation." (Yeah, that's the last thing you want on a jury.) Two, "If you're frustrated, you've got something to take your frustration out on." (Licorice whip!) And three, "They put you in a good mood." Looks like somebody's going to have to recuse himself from any Twizzler-related lawsuits from now on!
The jury accepted the peace offering, and no further strife between Juror 11 and the foul-mouthed Juror 7 was reported. The trial could end as early as next week, and it was learned yesterday that Gotti may take the witness stand tomorrow, because Judge Castel agreed to limit cross-examination so the ex-Gambino boss isn't turned into a de facto government informant. Gotti's lawyer tells the Post that Gotti believes testifying is "the way to get finality—get up there, get my story out, get my acquittal and get the hell out of here."
Tagged
hung jury
john gotti jr
jury
mistrial
trial
twizzler
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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