Opinion ID: 787685
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Polito

Text: 57 As discussed above, the evidence established that Polito had several motivations for wanting to kill Lombardi and D'Urso: Polito owed them significant amounts of money from loansharking; he believed that D'Urso had previously set him up for a robbery; and he wanted to switch from Zito's crew to Malangone's crew to increase his chances of securing ill-gotten gains. The Government argues on appeal that it was this last motivation that satisfied the position related element of § 1959. The Government's argument is fatally flawed for several reasons, however. First, it cites no authority — and we have found none — for the proposition that an associate of an organized crime family switching from one crew to another is per se evidence of maintaining or increasing his position in a criminal enterprise. Absent any such authority, we think it simply too tenuous to conclude that switching from a temporarily less active crew to a more active crew within the same organized crime family was likely to result in Polito maintaining or advancing his position in that enterprise. 58 Second, even when the evidence is construed in the light most favorable to the Government, no rational juror could conclude that killing Lombardi and/or D'Urso would have resulted in Polito's being able to switch crews. Polito was not a made member of the Genovese Family; nor was he acting on the orders of a made member (or anyone else) in that organization. Polito was merely an associate of the Genovese Family whose principal ties to that organization were in his capacity as a gambling and loansharking customer. Lombardi and D'Urso also were associates and not made members of the Genovese Family. Thus, the Government failed to establish through the conclusory, uncorroborated, biased, and illogical testimony of D'Urso how the killing of Lombardi and/or D'Urso would have resulted in Zito or Aparo releasing Polito so that he could switch crews. Nor was there any evidence that Malangone, to whose crew Polito desired to switch, had authorized the Shootings, nor that Polito would have been accepted by Malangone into his crew after the Shootings. Thus, even crediting D'Urso's testimony that Polito wanted to switch to Malangone's temporarily more active crew, there is no evidence from which a rational juror could conclude that Polito participated in the murder of Lombardi and the attempted murder of D'Urso to enable him to switch crews. 59 Third, there was significant evidence that Polito's shooting of Lombardi and D'Urso was done in contravention of Genovese Family protocols and that Polito's role in the Shootings actually decreased his standing in the Genovese Family. Instead of taking credit for the Shootings as a badge of honor, the participants laid low and denied any involvement in the Shootings. In fact, tape-recorded conversations between D'Urso and Aparo that were made years after the Shootings showed that higher-ups in the Genovese Family considered killing Polito for organizing the Shootings without proper authorization, but then decided against doing so out of fear that Polito would start cooperating with the Government if he found out they were planning to kill him. In sum, no rational juror could have found that Polito participated in the Shootings to maintain or increase his position in the Genovese Family. 60 With respect to the relatedness element under RICO, see Minicone, 960 F.2d at 1106, we conclude that no rational juror could have found that Polito was able to arrange the Shootings solely by virtue of his position in the Genovese family. It is undisputed that Cerasulo and Imbrieco were Polito's cousins and that Bruno was recruited by his friend Cerasulo. As noted above, none of the shooters was a made member of the Genovese Family; nor were the Shootings themselves sanctioned by the family. Indeed, all evidence suggests otherwise. On the other hand, it is entirely reasonable to conclude that Polito planned the Shootings to avoid repaying his loansharking debts and because he despised D'Urso — in other words, that for Polito the murder of Lombardi and the attempted murder of D'Urso were simply personal matters. Accordingly, based on the evidence adduced, we conclude that no rational juror could have found the Shootings to be related to the activities of the Genovese Family.