Opinion ID: 365884
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Conspiracy To Obstruct Justice

Text: 27 Immediately upon his arrival in Tampa in late February, 1976, Carl Swartz became a frequent visitor at the Callahan bail bond business. Swartz noticed that appellant Taylor, then a special investigator for the Florida State Attorney's Office, often came to see Callahan and that the two would have private conversations in Callahan's office. On March 14, Callahan told Swartz that Taylor had discovered Carl Caccamo was a government stool pigeon, and that everyone should be careful because the heat was going to come down. Callahan had been close to Caccamo and was disturbed that Caccamo had obtained his release from custody by promising to inform on Callahan and others. Callahan remarked that he considered Caccamo a dead man. 28 Swartz, Lopez and Patterson were present at the bond office on March 23, when Callahan told them not to use the office telephones for any kind of business, because Taylor thought that the phones were tapped. 29 By early April, Callahan's fear that Caccamo was an informant had deepened. Two judges had told Callahan to be careful of Caccamo and Callahan had his own men checking on Caccamo's activities. Callahan had also received information that Caccamo had caused the recent arrests of Matassini and Cuesta. Callahan noted that Lopez had a couple dago boys who were going to break Caccamo's legs and mouth so that he would be unable to talk. 30 On April 8, 1976, Callahan and Lopez questioned Matassini in an effort to determine if Caccamo had been responsible for his arrest, but Matassini had never heard of Caccamo. Callahan expressed his distrust of Caccamo, stating that he was an undercover agent for both the FBI and the Florida State Attorney's Office. On this same day, Lopez testified before the grand jury that he not only had never sold drugs of any kind, but had never even discussed the possibility of transactions involving marijuana. 31 About three weeks later, Patterson and Lopez were present in the bond office when Taylor arrived. A general discussion regarding the grand jury investigation ensued. Lopez wondered why the grand jury was interested in him, and Taylor replied that the government thought he was involved in illegal activities. Caccamo was viewed as the culprit. 32 The next afternoon, Callahan told Taylor that Caccamo was in Virginia. Taylor replied that he was probably with an FBI agent since he had gone there with one. Taylor was convinced that somebody would get Caccamo and believed that Caccamo was responsible for both Callahan and Lopez having been called before the grand jury. According to Taylor, the Feds thought Lopez was selling cocaine. 33 The possibility that Carl Caccamo was a government informant continued to plague Callahan and Lopez. Callahan was disturbed that an FBI agent who had been around the bond office had disappeared at the same time Caccamo left town. Callahan also learned that a number of criminal charges pending against Caccamo had been dismissed. When Callahan declared that he would not see Caccamo except to secure repayment of some debts, Lopez cautioned that they should be careful to conceal their knowledge of Caccamo's status as an informant. In Lopez' words, Don't ever let an informant know (that you know) he's an informant unless you're gonna kill him. 34 Several days later, Callahan went to dinner with Swartz and his wife. During the meal, Pat Matassini visited the table and a discussion ensued centering on Caccamo. Both Matassini and Callahan expressed dislike for Caccamo. Callahan told Matassini that everything was set for Saturday; Matassini replied, Fine. After Matassini left, Callahan explained that on Saturday he was taking Caccamo for dinner at a Chinese restaurant where Matassini would shoot him to death. Later, after Callahan had left, Swartz made a deal with Matassini whereby, if Swartz caught up with Caccamo first, he would receive a half of the contract price being paid to Matassini for the murder. 35 At about this time, appellants became increasingly concerned about the grand jury. On May 17, Callahan expressed apprehension about Laura Brannen, one of his employees, because She knows my life from A to Z. Callahan's approach to Brannen about her prospective grand jury appearance was not subtle: 36 CALLAHAN: You don't know nothin' do you honey? 37 BRANNEN: No, I don't know anything. 38 CALLAHAN: You better not. 39 BRANNEN: I don't know nothin'. 40 CALLAHAN: You wanta live long enough to tell me how much you love me or whatever. 41 The next afternoon Lopez counseled Swartz on how he should respond if questioned by the grand jury. Lopez told Swartz to answer the nonincriminating questions, but to invoke the Fifth Amendment if they hit a sore spot. According to Lopez, the government could then offer immunity and Swartz would have to answer. 42 A short while later, Taylor telephoned Callahan to report that he (Taylor) had been subpoenaed by the grand jury. Taylor arrived at the bond office about half an hour later. He and Callahan speculated about the reason for their having been subpoenaed to testify. Taylor thought that, possibly, he had told Callahan that Caccamo was a federal informant over a telephone line which had been tapped. 43 On June 16, 1976, Patterson told Lopez to tell Callahan she would reveal all that she knew. Lopez told her to be quiet and to testify that, to her knowledge, he (Lopez) was not involved in any illegal activity. 44 The prior plan to kill Caccamo having failed, Swartz and Callahan visited Caccamo's girlfriend. Callahan told her that he wanted to see Caccamo within 24 hours he wanted the money and the ring he had loaned to Caccamo. During the ride back Callahan vowed that he would break both of Caccamo's legs. He was also going to tell Pat Matassini that Caccamo was nearby. 45 Patterson appeared before the grand jury on August 17, 1976. She denied knowing of Lopez' narcotics activities, ever discussing with Lopez the importation or distribution of marijuana, or offering to obtain a pilot for Lopez. 46 The following morning, Swartz drove Callahan to his lawyer's office to prepare for Callahan's grand jury appearance. In his testimony before the grand jury, Callahan denied any knowledge of Lopez' narcotics activities, stated that he never offered to contact Harry the Rock Hoffman for Lopez in order to facilitate a narcotics transaction, and denied having threatened Caccamo with physical violence. Swartz drove Callahan back to the office after his appearance. When they arrived Callahan swore that he would kill Caccamo. 47 Later that same day, Taylor was summoned before the grand jury. Taylor testified that he never told anyone that the grand jury was investigating Lopez' narcotics activities and denied having made the statement that somebody will kill Caccamo. 48 That night Swartz took Callahan to visit Lopez and they discussed the testimony Callahan had given. Taylor telephoned Lopez and they also compared grand jury testimony. 49 The following day, Lopez cautioned Swartz to be sure to have an attorney if he was subpoenaed and to forget everything about their aborted marijuana transaction and the meetings they had with J. T. 50 On August 25, 1976, Swartz, while fitted with a body microphone and tape recorder, spoke to Callahan regarding Caccamo. Callahan expressed his overriding desire to kill Caccamo regardless of whether he himself were to be imprisoned or executed for the murder. Callahan blamed Caccamo for placing a bug in his office, because it was only through such a device that the government could have learned that Taylor told Callahan that Caccamo was an informant. Throughout the remainder of August, Callahan, in his daily contacts with Swartz, continued to refer to informant Caccamo as the cause of their problems. 51 On September 14, Swartz had one last meeting with Lopez in which Lopez emphasized that, as long as neither one of them testified, no case could be made against them. THE LAW