Jury Doesn’t Believe Defendant’s Stories of Shooting, Convicts Him

Joseph Angelo Grosso was convicted Wednesday of attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy in the shooting of Santa Ana nightclub financier William Carroll.

The conviction could have implications for Los Angeles racketeer Michael Anthony Rizzitello, who is scheduled to go on trial for the Carroll shooting Dec. 11. Prosecutors charge that Rizzitello, with Grosso’s help, shot Carroll after Rizzitello had made an unsuccessful attempt to take over the now-defunct Mustang Club, a topless bar in Santa Ana.

Both Grosso and Carroll testified that it was Rizzitello--listed by the state attorney general’s office as an underboss in the Los Angeles-based Milano crime family--who pulled the trigger in the 1987 shooting that left Carroll blind. Carroll, 56, said that Grosso, 46, held him down to prevent his escape.

Rizzitello, 62, has denied through his attorney, Anthony P. Brooklier, that he participated in the Carroll shooting.

Jury foreman Kathleen Bruck of Costa Mesa said the jurors believed Carroll’s testimony that Rizzitello was the man who shot him and that Grosso was a participant.

Grosso testified that he did not know that Rizzitello was going to shoot Carroll, after the three had dinner together. Grosso predicted that he will be killed because he testified against Rizzitello. The two are being held in separate sections of the Orange County Jail.

On the witness stand, Grosso also admitted that he had told “probably more than 25” different versions about the shooting.

“We tried to show the jurors that Mr. Grosso had to tell different stories about what happened to protect himself from being killed,” said Grosso’s attorney, William Yacobozzi Jr. “But obviously they did not accept that.”

Grosso, who faces an automatic sentence of 25 years to life in prison, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted first-degree murder, and mayhem. Superior Court Judge John L. Flynn Jr. set a Dec. 12 sentencing date.