MAFIA

 

When I went to work for Mr. Quinn it was with the expectation that I might learn to be a good Civil Trial Attorney. I was in heaven when he tried a sprained neck auto case in 1959 and I was allowed to sit second chair at the trial even though I had not passed the bar.

 

Not long thereafter things went downhill for me because Mr. Quinn took on the handling of the Sharon Kinne murder cases.

 

Since Mr. Quinn did not need the money I guess he decided it was more exciting to be a Criminal Defense Lawyer. He soon began representing Nick Civella and soon thereafter Nick and many of his associates spent a good deal of time at the law firm.

 

An even stranger thing happened when Nick Civella took a peculiar and paternalistic attitude toward me and would frequently stop at my office door, rap on it and say, "Sir Lantzlot, do you have a few minutes to chat?" I would frequently invite Nick Civella in and we would discuss diverse subjects such as politics, religion, law etc. Nick had a modest education, but was extremely well read.

 

AN INTERESTING STORY:

In 1960 one Kenneth Bruce Sheetz was under the federal witness protection program in Kansas City, Missouri. He was to give testimony against Anthony Biase, head of the outfit in Omaha, Nebraska. On June 20, 1960 it was claimed that Felix 'The Rat' Ferina & Anthony 'Tiger' Carderella appeared at his house and put a number of bullets in him while uttering, "Here's something from Tony." Unfortunately for Tony, Bruce Sheetz survived and testified about who shot him as well as the near fatal utterance.

 

The case was first tried in State Court with my best pal Larry Gepford as the prosecutor and Mr. Quinn as the defense lawyer. The case was won by the defense based upon the alibi testimony of a real estate agent named Lillis who brought his appointment book to court to prove that he was showing property to Ferina at the time of the shooting.

 

DOUBLE JEOPARDY: When you have offended the Sovereign and then found not guilty of the offense, you cannot be tried twice. However there is a little twist. It seems that there are two Sovereigns: The State of Missouri and the US government.

Ferina & Carderella were tried on a state charge of attempted murder.

 

After they were found not guilty the US government tried them on the charge of Assaulting a Government Witness.

 

One of the reasons that accused persons do not like being tried in federal court is that the trial judge is allowed to comment on the evidence after the lawyers have made their closing arguments. This is sometimes referred to as the third closing argument. Ferina and Carderella were convicted.

 

N.B. Many years later my pal, the United States Dist. Atty. for the Western District of Missouri, and I were having some drinks after work and he confessed to me that the FBI had learned during the course of the first trial in state court that Tiger Carderella had not really participated. I asked him why the hell they had not dismissed the case against Carderella and he quite candidly responded that it would have destroyed their case against Ferina and besides, they knew that Carderella was guilty of a number of other things they could not take to court. I realized then that I would have been a pretty poor prosecutor.

 

N.B. The real estate agent, Lillis, who gave the alibi testimony in the state case was later indicted and convicted by the Feds for perjury. It seems that they could prove that he had altered his appointment book and entered Ferina's name at a later time.

 

In the early 1960s Attorney General Robert Kennedy created Federal Strike Forces in many major cities, including Kansas City, Missouri. These organizations accomplished many good things, but like all matters involving extremes they were guilty of some bad deeds. They not only went after the "Bad Guys", but went after the individuals who hung out with them as well as the criminal defense lawyers who would dare to represent them. Their position was that if anyone was associated with or represented the "Bad Guys" they were also to be targeted and/or harassed.

 

When my friend Larry Gepford was no longer the Jackson County Prosecutor he quite naturally became a criminal defense lawyer. As such he represented a number of people that the Strike Force labeled as "Bad Guys". It came to my attention that some of these FBI investigators were knocking on doors in the neighborhood where Larry and his family lived and asking questions designed to infer that he was some kind of undesirable person of questionable morality.

 

One day I was sitting in my office when the receptionist told me that there were two FBI agents who wanted to speak to me about Larry Gepford. I asked if they had an appointment and was told that they did not. I told her to offer them a seat and I made them sit for three hours before inviting them into my office. After showing me their identification I had my secretary scan it. I sat them on my sofa and turned on a tape recorder and placed it on the coffee table before them. They told me that this was not necessary since agent so-and-so was a very accurate note taker.

 

N.B. Pals of mine in the federal prosecutor's office had told me that some FBI agents were not adverse to giving perjured testimony if they had already determined that the guilty S.O.B. deserved it.

 

I ignored the comment and asked them if they were the sons of bitches that had been intentionally blackening my best friends name and reputation. They were quite taken aback, confused and embarrassed but hastily told me they heard about the incidents and those two agents had been taken off the investigation.

 

I did let them ask me about sums of money I paid to Larry as case referrals and told them that the bulk of my law practice was based on referrals of cases from other lawyers. I told them that all referral fees were reflected in my records and I would be absolutely amazed if Larry failed to report those fees as income. The interview ended on a pleasant note.

 

Turning to the hypocrisy of the "Good Guys": The Federal Strike Force in Kansas City was run by David Helfrey and when he retired from his job, guess who he started representing.

 

So, this is no different than Larry Gepford becoming a criminal defense lawyer. Or for that matter, Lantz Welch working for State Farm Mutual, and after seeing the light representing injured people.

 

In the summer of 1969 Nick Civella came to me with a tale that was very difficult to believe. He told me that 18 Italians had gone on a junket arranged by Carl Caruso as guests of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for golf and gambling and had been harassed by Sheriff Lamb of Clark Co.

 

Nick showed me the front page banner headline from the Las Vegas Sun:

LITTLE APPALACHIA HERE? "Sheriff Ralph Lamb interrupts four-day meeting of Kansas City members of the Mafia here to elect a successor to Vito Genovese."

 

It is true that Genovese was a Mafia member, but the headline turned out to be absolutely false as it related to the Kansas City golfers.

 

Nick Civella asked me if I would be willing to help these 18 men and I told him I would look into it. As mentioned earlier, the United States Dist. Atty. for the Western District of Missouri was a pal of mine. I gave him a list of the 18 names and asked him to get back to me with those who had no criminal record and certainly were not involved in organized crime. He did so and I agreed to represent approximately 13 men (I say approximately since I have not gone back to the files and this is from memory).

 

The 18 men were removed from the chartered Frontier Airlines airplane by sheriff's deputies and placed in a school bus with sealed windows to cook in the sun for four hours before being taken to the Clark County Sheriff's Department. When they arrived they were stripped and de-loused and then arrested as Vagrants in spite of the fact that they were all carrying thousands of dollars on their persons.

 

I told Nick Civella that I would represent the 13 men, but that I did not want any help or interference from him and he assured me that I would be in charge.

 

I sued Sheriff Lamb and the citizens of Clark County under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act. I sued Hank Greenspun and the Las Vegas Sun for libel. These lawsuits were filed in federal court.

 

As I was a busy young lawyer it was very difficult for me to carve out a week where I could go to Las Vegas and take the depositions of those involved. I did in fact take their depositions for 10 hours a day for six days.

 

Before the depositions started the smart ass insurance company defense lawyer asked me, "Aren't you a little nervous representing these kinds of people?" I got right in his face and told him that when I was finished with the depositions he would retract that comment and apologize to me.

 

I deposed the owner of the newspaper as well as the two authors of the story and they could not remember who might have told them about a meeting to elect a successor to Vito Genovese. Likewise, I deposed the good Sheriff and his chief underlings about any knowledge of such a meeting and of course there was no such meeting.

 

When I was done I told the defense lawyer that this was the only case I had ever handled where I felt I could get a directed verdict on the issue of liability. He regretfully agreed and quickly followed with an apology for his earlier remarks.

 

NOW FOR THE KICKER: The court reporter disappeared with all her notes and we had no finished product. I immediately assumed that Sheriff Lamb had planted her in the desert. He was known for such things. As it turned out, the "Good Guys" relocated the woman, to work for a federal judge back east.

 

The bad news: For me to carve out another full week in my busy life was not bloody likely.

 

The good news: The "Bad Guys" paid very handsome settlements and we disposed of the cases.