In response to Tankleff lawyer Bruce Barket's affirmation alleging witness tampering by the DA, ADA Leonard Lato sent an unsworn letter on January 31st to Judge Braslow. In addition to denying the witness tampering charge, Lato demonstrates his knowledge of the history of the commonly used idiom "the big lie," a tactic Tankleff's lawyers had accused the DA of employing. Writes Lato:
"In his zeal and ignorance, Barket has brought People v. Tankleff to its lowest point in its 17-year history by referring to "The Big Lie," a propaganda theory that Adolf Hitler coined in Mein Kamp and one that Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, refined and used against the Jews in Nazi Germany."
O-kay. On February 1st, Barket filed another affirmation in response. Don't miss the death-threat allegation in Footnote 5:
I was reminded of the conversation again yesterday when Mr. Salpeter informed me the he was told by another witness that Creedon was actively planning on killing me. According to this witness, Creedon has taken steps to act on his intention and learned where “Barket lives with his family.” The remark about my family is somewhat disconcerting,. Although I have been married for several years, it is only recently that we had our first child and thus could be described as a family. I do not doubt that Creedon made these threats. Violence and threats of violence is how he has lived his entire life. He has had Leonard Lato and Walter Warkenthien acting as his defense team for the Tankleff murders for the last 30 months. Not surprisingly, Creedon is emboldened by his new allies in law enforcement and is probably feeling that he can say or do anything without fear of prosecution.
Meanwhile, Tankleff witness Glenn Harris has been reported missing. Harris had taken the Fifth at the hearing, because of death threats as well as threats of imprisonment by the DA's investigator Warkenthien.
The latest affirmation by Tankleff's defense closes by repeating the request that the judge hold a hearing to address the factual disputes regarding the witness tampering allegations:
"We are not afraid to have our version of events measured against Mr. Lato’s. In fact, we invite such an assessment. We also invite and welcome a trial to measure the credibility of the new evidence we have produced against the credibility of the witnesses, such as Peter Kent and Joey 'Guns' Creedon, on whom Mr. Lato relies to rebut that evidence."
So, what happened to Glenn Harris? How hard is Suffolk County Police Department looking for him? Do they suspect foul play? If foul play played a part in Harris's disappearance, what does the DA plan to do about it? What does the DA plan to do about the death threats against Mr. Barket and his family? Is Mr. Spota actually waiting until Joey "Guns" does something against Mr. Barket? I guess he will be as duly diligent as he is with Glenn Harris's disappearance. Questions, questions, questions....millions of inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: Robert L. Olson | February 05, 2006 at 10:51 PM
Yeah, Steuerman was the Bagel King. I'll take mine salted.
Posted by: joe nuneman | March 19, 2006 at 05:45 PM
Does anyone know how old the crummy Lincoln the parents made Marty drive was?
Posted by: joe nuneman | March 19, 2006 at 11:15 PM