The attorney for Frank Calabrese Sr., Joseph "The Shark" Lopez, is a lawyer known in the press world as media friendly.
He's also quick with a quote, eager with a quip.
He's a flashy dresser, from the bottom of his pink socks to the top of the knot in his pink tie.
Like many folks, he enjoys the glare of the media spotlight.
And he appeared to be dying to talk Monday after the guilty verdict.
There was just one problem
The gag order against attorneys in the case hadn't been lifted yet.
The jury still has more to deliberate on.
Lopez happened to leave with Rick Halprin, the attorney for Joseph Lombardo.
Halprin declined to comment to the media horde downstairs in the lobby of the federal building as he was leaving.
Lopez lingered, checking out the courtroom sketch artist drawings.
Halprin reminded him of the gag order.
Lopez still lingered, temptation etched in his face.
Halprin threw out a few choice words.
Seeing no real movement on The Shark's part, Halprin walked back to him and dragged out of the courtroom lobby.
What a ham. This is going to do wonders for his business, so why shouldn't he try and get a little media attention.
The reporters want to ask him, and he wants to tell them. As soon as Zagel lifts this order, you know that even Halprin is going to have the media surrounding him.
I have a question, and I couldn't decide on the right blog entry to ask it in so I chose the most-recent entry.
Now -- supposedly -- Nick Calabrese turned cooperating witness when he was faced with the death penalty for the murder of John Fecarotta in 1986.
With that in mind, my two-part question is this:
(1) Why isn't the death penalty being sought for the other now-convicted killers? (2) Was the Government just bluffing Nick Calabrese when they told him they would seek the death penalty?
Granted, that aside from a St. Louis mobster executed by the State of Missouri in 1999, only Murder Inc. gangsters like Lepke Buchalter back in the 1940s have ever been given the death penalty and actually put to death. I just always wonder why the Federal Government, and State Governments, too, never seek the death penalty against mobsters convicted of organized-crime murders.
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Good question on the death penalty.
We'll ask the U.S. Attorney's office when they hold a press conference after the final verdict in the case, and let you know what they say.
As for Nick Calabrese specifically, he very easily could have faced the death penalty for the murder.
Now if only Halprin could help him reign in those pink shirts.
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Maybe it's just me, but I'm kind of going to miss those pink shirts.
But not the pink socks.
Vince Lombardi once said in criticizing end zone celebrations (now routine in the NFL) "Act Like You Been There Before".
The truly great lawyers in this and other towns may be unknown to the general public because they "don't dance in the endzone" mug for the media etc.
Their in the court performance speaks for itself and that's why they get hired time and again over the years.
Mr. Lopez lost the case, last time I looked.
Think I'd prefer to slip quietly away myself like the loosers on the football field.
Maybe his strategy is that a loss at the trial level is the first step toward a successful appeal, or at least that's what he's told his client!!!
I have to say, though Steve, that his "Forever Bothering Italians" line in referring to the FBI was as colorful as his dress.
I have to say, though Steve, that his "Forever Bothering Italians" line in referring to the FBI was as colorful as his dress.
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Actually, he stole that line out of the HBO-made movie GOTTI (1995).
Armand Assante, who plays John Gotti, is in a bathroom and is approached by two FBI agents while washing his hands. He asks them if they know what FBI stands for. They say tell us. He says "Forever Bothering Italians."
I guess Joseph "the Shark" Lopez likes to watch gangster movies as much as he likes to represent gangsters. :)