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Prosecution Opens Its Case Against Junior Gotti

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Aug 8, 2005 4:50 pm US/Eastern

Prosecution Opens Its Case Against Junior Gotti

He's a "New Man" but jury will decide his fate

New York (CBS) ― The prosecution has opened its case against John "Junior" Gotti, who is accused of taking over the Gambino crime family after his father was sent to prison. Prosecutors say Junior Gotti ordered the 1992 kidnapping of radio host Curtis Sliwa to silence him for criticizing his father.

Gotti's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said his client left crime years ago after pleading guilty to racketeering in another case.

He became a new man after he "realized his children might grow up without him if he doesn't change."

He said prosecutors were relying on testimony from turncoat killers seeking sentences similar to the five-year term Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano got for 19 murders after he gave the key testimony against the elder Gotti.

During his opening statement, Lichtman drew several objections from prosecutors and a few criticisms from the judge while he blasted the government's witness list as "violent, manipulative creeps" and "a literal parade of horribles."

(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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