‘Mafia Cops’ Claim Lawyers Botched Case

There was a time when Louis Eppolito was proud to have Bruce Cutler, a celebrated defense attorney, at his side. Eppolito called Cutler “the only one I trust” and not a good lawyer but a “great one,” and agreed to pay $250,000 for his services.

But in an extraordinary coda to the “Mafia Cops” trial, Eppolito and his former partner, Steven Caracappa, on Friday turned accusing fingers at the lawyers who defended them.

In a motion for a mistrial, Eppolito testified that Cutler became chilly and remote as the trial began and flatly refused to allow him to take the stand. He refused to read the notes Eppolito passed in court, and when Eppolito followed him to a diner during the lunch break, “he’d put up his hand and say, ‘Don’t tell me anything.’ ”

Eppolito and Caracappa, two retired New York police detectives, were convicted April 6 of moonlighting as Mafia hit men. U.S. District Court Judge Jack Weinstein said he intends to sentence the men to life in prison, but not until he has heard the defendants’ motion. The hearing will continue next week.

On Friday, the famous defense attorneys showed up in elegant suits and waited outside to be called as witnesses. Edward Hayes, who defended Caracappa, sat on a folding chair on the sidewalk and seemed cheerful enough. But Cutler -- a bald, thick-necked Brooklynite best known for defending John Gotti -- looked grave. He called the hearing “awkward for me, and unprecedented.”

“It’s just another attempt by the client to fight another day,” he said. “But personal attacks on me I don’t understand, and I don’t cotton to.”

Inside, assistant U.S. Atty. Robert Henoch was in the unusual position of defending the performance of the defense attorneys. He grilled Eppolito for more than three hours, suggesting reasons why Cutler chose not to call him as a witness.

Among them was a florid passage from Eppolito’s autobiography, “Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob,” in which Eppolito described punching a witness called “Bugs” for so long that “he wore my arms out.” When Bugs didn’t talk, Eppolito filled a bucket with ammonia and water and plunged the witness’s head into it until “his face mutated into a giant purple blotch.” Eppolito said that episode was invented to liven up the book.

Henoch also played audiotapes in which Eppolito bragged to Steven Corso -- a government informant who had offered Eppolito funding for a film project -- about his continued clout in the Mafia. In this case, too, Eppolito said, he had embellished his story for the listener’s benefit.

“Corso told me he was a tough guy from New York,” Eppolito said. “I was just lying to him. He thinks it’s wonderful.”

“So you’ll tell a lie?” Henoch asked.

“If it’ll help me get my movies made, yeah,” Eppolito said.

As the afternoon progressed, Eppolito acknowledged that he often used racist language. And he admitted to promising Corso he could date his daughter -- “in a man-to-man kind of way” -- if Corso’s promise of film financing came through.

Repeatedly, he found himself explaining away threats and boasts of violence.

“You told him you were going to kill him and put him in a trunk!” Henoch said at one point.

“That was just talk,” Eppolito replied.

The defense presented in the case was, in fact, cursory. Hayes left town on the day two witnesses were called for Caracappa, and Cutler called none; his entire defense lasted less than 15 minutes. Eppolito said he never met to talk with Cutler during the trial, never discussed the case at lunch and was given no opportunity to assist. His new lawyer, Joseph Bondy, asked where Cutler was during a meeting called to discuss a change in testimony from Anthony Casso, a Luchese family captain.

“I believe,” Eppolito said, “he was doing an interview for a magazine.”