Witness in murder trial freaked out by 'Godfather II'-inspired intimidation campaign: prosecutors

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Senate hearing scene from 'The Godfather II.'

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A key witness in a Bronx murder trial refused to testify Monday - and prosecutors said he was freaked out by an intimidation campaign inspired by "The Godfather II."
The case against three men accused of murdering a bordello bouncer was thrown into chaos when their confessed accomplice, Edwardo Urrutia, got on the stand.
Urrutia had promised prosecutors he would spill the beans in return for a manslaughter plea deal and less jail time - then changed his mind.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking," he said sheepishly, wearing a Rikers Island jumpsuit. "I won't [testify]."
Prosecutors immediately cried witness tampering and tried to prove it to the judge with recordings of calls defendant Daniel Carbuccia made to eight friends.
"You remember the scene in 'Godfather II' when the guy snitching on Michael Corleone is before Congress, and his brother walks in and makes him flip the script?" Carbuccia told one friend.
"[The witness] said, 'Wow, I can't go out like that.' It's my favorite movie of all time."
Carbuccia told that friend he should make sure the courtroom seats were filled with buddies. In another call, he ordered a pal to wear a "stop snitching" shirt to court while Urrutia was on the stand.
"This is something I need done because I want to be free," he said.
Prosecutors said a friend of Carbuccia threatened Urrutia's wife, Erica, last week, screaming at her, "Snitches think they're coming home, but it won't be for long!"
Bronx Assistant District Attorney Josh Gradinger tried to get Urrutia to admit all the young men sitting in the courtroom had scared him silent.
"Isn't it true you know the people who have been in the audience, that you grew up with these people?" Gradinger fumed at his key witness.
"No," Urrutia answered in a whisper, prompting one man in the audience to nod his head approvingly.
Urrutia, who recently received death threats in prison, is slated to be called as a witness today.
If he doesn't talk, his plea deal might be canceled, and prosecutors would rely on a videotaped statement he made to to a grand jury in 2008.
On the tape, he described how he, Carbuccia and two other men ripped off hookers and johns at a brothel in January 2004 and shot bouncer Roberto Quintana, 25.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/11/23/2010-11-23_godfather_moment_for_witness_in_slay_trial.html#ixzz166ODgXPZ