Opinion ID: 763105
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Pelullo's Other Evidence in Defense Against Count 54

Text: 59 The District Court found that Pelullo had a significant amount of evidence that he could use in mounting a defense to Count 54. This evidence included his father's testimony that Royale owed his company money for the hotel renovation project; that the $114,000 transfer in February was partial payment of that debt; that he used the $114,000 for personal reasons; and that he did not use the money to repay DiSalvo on his son's behalf. See id. at 411. 60 Beyond refuting the accusations against Pelullo, Pelullo's family offered an affirmative explanation for the events at issue. See id. His father testified that in August 1986, Leonard's brother Arthur told him that Leonard had borrowed money from DiSalvo and that Scarfo and Leonetti had advised the Pelullos to repay DiSalvo. Leonard's brother Peter testified that he helped Leonard repay DiSalvo by borrowing money from a bank in September 1986; Peter stated that he then gave that money to Arthur to give DiSalvo. Leonard introduced bank documents supporting this story, including a $55,000 bank check drawn on his brother's account, made payable to DiSalvo. The District Court did not clearly err in concluding that, based on this evidence list, Pelullo could have mounted a defense to Count 54 without taking the stand himself. 61 The Court also found that Pelullo had a number of ways to impeach Leonetti's testimony, only one of which was taking the stand. As we noted in Pelullo II, Leonetti was subject to extensive cross-examination and impeachment. The defense attacked Leonetti's credibility by bringing to light the accounts of his murders and his desperate deals with the government in order to get out of prison sooner. Pelullo II, 14 F.3d at 887. The District Court also found that Pelullo, in a motion after the second trial, had described Leonetti's trial testimony as having minuscule relevance. See 6 F.Supp.2d at 420. From that language, the District Court inferred that Leonetti's testimony had little effect on Pelullo's decision to waive his Fifth Amendment rights. While an alternate reading--that Pelullo simply was downplaying to the court the significance of an adverse witness's testimony--is possible, the District Court's reading is plausible too. 62 In sum, based on the whole of the District Court's findings of fact, we cannot say that the District Court clearly erred when it found that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Pelullo would have testified during his first trial even if the withheld material had been made available to him. While the District Court's findings of fact were not uniformly correct, we are not left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. See United States Gypsum, 333 U.S. at 395, 68 S.Ct. 525. The judgment of the District Court will be affirmed. However, upon return of the mandate to the District Court, the Court shall amend the judgment to reflect that the fine is a non-committed fine.