Gotti's Defense Strikes Back To Exclude Wiretapped

Gotti's Defense Strikes Back To Exclude Wiretapped

SOHH.com's exclusive pre-trial coverage of the Murder Inc. trial, we look at the defense's recent filings to suppress conversations between Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and the Lorenzo brothers (Irv and Chris "Gotti") discussing beef with 50 Cent and intents to perjure, stating they are irrelevant to the money laundering charges against the Gottis.

SOHH.com has obtained exclusively a 5-page motion filed on October 11 by Gerald Shargel, Chris Lorenzo's attorney. In it, Shargel refutes the prosecution's claims of a conspiracy to submit false testimony, and protest the relevance of several taped conversations between Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and the Lorenzo brothers. Shargel requests that Judge Edward R. Korman exclude large portions of transcripts in which the Lorenzos and McGriff discuss 50 Cent, former Supreme Team member "Born Master," and the death penalty, among other topics, as they are irrelevant to the money laundering case at hand.

According to the filing, McGriff and Chris Lorenzo had a conversation on March 4th in which McGriff and Lorenzo diiscuss the beef between 50 Cent and Irv Lorenzo. Specifically, McGriff and Irv Gotti express worry over the mock Ja Rule death certificate included with 50s Massacre CD, suggesting that a "crazy fan" of 50 Cent might be a threat to Ja.

Shargel asserts that allowing these conversations into next week's trial lead to "unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues" and would serve to mislead the jury by introducing subtle suggestions of a link to rap world violence such as the 2002 murder of Jam Master Jay and 50's 2000 shooting. That said, Shargel states that this conversation is irrelevant to the money laundering charges.

During a March 29th conversation between McGriff and Irv Lorenzo, McGriff again is taped telling Lorenzo that "... your lawyer I think was asking my lawyer that he wanted me testify that you don't know this fucking guy....Jon Ragin." The prosecution points to this conversation to assert that McGriff and Irv Lorenzo "conspired to offer perjured testimony" about Irv knowing Jon Ragin aka "Born Master", a former Supreme associate who has since joined the witness protection program. Schargel request that this conversation also be excluded because Irv Lorenzo never definitively responds to McGriff's statement and therefore there was no conspiracy to commit perjury.

In a final push rush to whittle down the charges against the Lorenzos, Schargel is preparing to go head-on against the prosecutions claims of "money laundering" and establish the entire trial as much-ado-about-nothing. So far, SOHH.com has learned that Ja Rule's manager, Ron "Gutta" Robinson has had all charges against him dropped. Cynthia Brent, the Murder Inc accountant arrested in November 2004 for "structuring" cash, pleaded guilty 2 weeks ago and received no jail time. Dex Ottley, arrested for gun possession, pleaded guilty to gun possession for the gun found in the raid of Murder Inc's offices and received probation.

While the Schargel filing was entered last week, at press time, there is no word as to whether or not Judge Korman has ruled on the issue.