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| N.Y. Prosecutors Claim Prison Videotape Proves Mob Boss Fit for Trial |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/27/2002 |
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A prison surveillance video shows the purportedly demented don Vincent ''The Chin'' Gigante holding court with his son and two other visitors. During an animated chat, he rises from his chair and paces. He gestures with his hands, puts on sunglasses and combs his hair without obvious strain. Prosecutors say the three-minute scene captured last year at a Texas prison helps prove that Gigante is a picture of physical and mental health and not, as his lawyers have insisted, insane. The video as well as audiotapes of prison telephone calls were filed in federal court recently to support the government's position that Gigante, 74, is fit to stand trial on new charges that he ran the powerful Genovese crime family from behind bars. U.S. District Judge Leo Glasser was not expected to make an immediate ruling. Gigante's attorney, Gary Greenwald, insisted his client suffers from heart disease, dementia and schizophrenia. He labeled prosecutors' conclusions meaningless and premature given that Gigante has yet to be examined by a psychiatrist. While on the street, Gigante was dubbed ''The Oddfather'' for his habit of wandering Manhattan's Greenwich Village in a bathrobe and mumbling to himself. But authorities have long alleged it was an act designed to dodge prosecution one that worked for decades. A judge finally ruled in 1997 that Gigante was feigning mental illness and ordered him to stand trial on racketeering and murder conspiracy charges. Gigante who sat in a wheelchair and stared into space throughout the trial was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison. |
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