United States v. Locascio
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
6 F.3d 924 (1993)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Mob boss John Gotti and advisor Frank Locascio (defendants) were charged with multiple counts of conspiracy and racketeering. Veteran FBI agent Lewis Schiliro testified extensively about organized crime families generally, the rules of the Sicilian Mafia, and roles that bosses like Gotti and “consigliere” like Locascio played in the Gambino crime family. Schiliro also listened to taped conversations and identified the speakers for the jury. Schiliro explained his knowledge came from his 17 years working with other FBI agents who knew about the inner workings of the Mafia and five years on the organized crime squad, with two years as supervisor. Schiliro also said he relied on other confidential sources, implying countless informants and other recorded mob conversations. Gotti and Locascio were both convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. They appealed on multiple grounds, including that Schiliro was not qualified to testify as an expert, gave broad testimony beyond the scope of expert testimony, and relied on improper evidence.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Altimari, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
