Yesterday the defense made their opening arguments to the jury in the racketeering trial against reputed Chicago Outfit capo Michael "The Large Guy" Sarno and four others involving the video poker racket and jewelry store heists, and "attorneys . . . attacked the prosecution case, bashing the credibility of many government witnesses as career criminals or corrupt cops" as reported by Andy Grimm for the Chicago Tribune. The defense attacks are perplexing. Who else but "career criminals and corrupt cops" would have first-hand knowledge of the alleged wrongdoings by the suspected crew? The so-called street cred of the government witnesses actually seems to bolster the prosecution. Video
Further coverage:
Lawyer: Blast wasn't reputed mobster's fault by Steve Warmbir for the Chicago Sun-Times
