No Proof It Defamed Newton, NBC Says; Asks Acquittal

An NBC attorney, arguing that there had been a “total failure of proof,” asked a federal judge Thursday to acquit the network of charges that it defamed singer Wayne Newton.

The request for a verdict of directed acquittal without the case going to the jury came as both sides rested in the trial, which entered its eighth week Wednesday.

NBC attorney Floyd Abrams asked U.S. District Judge Myron Crocker to delay ruling on the acquittal request until arguments are heard Monday by both sides outside the presence of the jury.

If NBC is not granted the directed acquittal, closing arguments are expected to take place late Monday or Tuesday before the civil jury.

Earlier in the day, Newton testified that he told Nevada gaming officials the truth about his relationship with two crime figures, but attorneys for NBC chipped away at whether Newton told the whole story.

Newton is suing National Broadcasting Co. Inc. over telecasts in 1980 and 1981 linking him to organized crime figures. The broadcasts said Newton was not entirely truthful with Nevada gaming authorities, who investigated him before approving his purchase of the Aladdin Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

On the stand, Newton was asked by his attorney, Morton Galane, “Do you feel you told the whole story to Nevada gaming authorities?”

“Absolutely. I answered all the questions that I was asked, with all candor,” Newton answered. “I wanted to give them everything they wanted. This was the fruition of a dream, a very important point in my life.”

NBC attorney Abrams later turned to testimony the singer gave before a federal grand jury in Connecticut in November, 1980, in an effort to refute Newton’s testimony in the current trial.

In the grand jury testimony, Newton detailed how he approached crime figure Guido Penosi for help in halting death threats against his family. Newton has described Penosi as a longtime fan.

Penosi turned to his cousin, East Coast mob boss Frank Piccolo, for help in getting the threats halted.

Pressed about whether he had gone into detail with gaming officials about his relationship with Penosi and Piccolo, Newton said he had told them “the crux of what I knew.”

He said the details of that relationship “only became relevant after the NBC broadcast.”

Wiretaps of conversations between Penosi and Piccolo indicated that Piccolo saw the solution to Newton’s death threat problems as a chance to move in on the entertainer.

Newton has testified that he first met Penosi while performing at the Copacabana night club in New York City in 1963.

Piccolo was gunned down in 1981. At the time, he and Penosi were awaiting trial on charges of trying to extort money from Newton, entertainer Lola Falana and her business manager, Mark Moreno.

Penosi was acquitted of the extortion charges in two different jury trials in Connecticut.