Chicago Times:
Assistant U.S. attorney Markus Funk was making his closing argument in the recent "Family Secrets" mob trial, when defendant Frank Calabrese Sr., an accused mob killer, had his own message for the prosecutor.
"You are a f ------ dead man," Calabrese muttered toward Funk, according to what a juror later told prosecutors.
The lead prosecutor in the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars, sent a letter to Calabrese's lawyer, Joseph Lopez, informing him of the juror's allegation. The juror said he or she "was able to make out what Mr. Calabrese was saying in part because he/she heard Mr. Calabrese, and in part by reading Mr. Calabrese's lips," Mars wrote.
Three other jurors "confirmed the juror's observations and heard Mr. Calabrese say the same thing," the juror said.
Lopez dismissed the allegation as "nonsense, total nonsense. It's an overactive imagination."
The jury ruled last month Calabrese, 70, engaged in a racketeering conspiracy and was responsible for seven mob murders.
U.S. attorney's office spokesman Randall Samborn declined comment on Mars' letter.
Attorneys for Calabrese's four co-defendants said the conversation among jurors about Calabrese's alleged threat could have unfairly tainted the panel against their clients, giving them a potential avenue to seek new trials.
Rick Halprin, attorney for defendant Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, said he will be in court next week, renewing his motion to sever Lombardo's case from Calabrese's.
"This is quite a development," Halprin said of the alleged threat. "I have grave concerns about this. You would assume it impacted their (jury's) thought process. We know from the letter that one-third of them talked about it. I expect to be in court on it next week."
Marc Martin, attorney for James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, who prosecutors say is the boss of Chicago's mob, said his client has argued for a severance from Calabrese since the beginning of the trial.
"Marcello has been complaining about this since day one, and this just adds more fuel to the fire," Martin said.
Martin also questioned whether Mars and Funk violated rules by having contact with a juror without court permission.
"I suspect the defense lawyers are going to come in with a motion (saying) 'it was an obviously improper influence,' " said Al Alschuler, a Northwestern University law professor. "I think it's a substantial issue."
The trial judge, U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who also received a copy of the letter, could reconvene the jurors, ask each if the alleged threat affected their verdict, and, if each one says it did not, let the verdict stand, Alschuler said.
Lopez said he was sitting next to his client and never heard any threat.
"My client has more brains than that," he said. "We were surrounded by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys and spectators, and nobody heard anything. Why wasn't something said immediately right afterward - that's what I want to know."
Marcello, Calabrese and Lombardo likely face life in prison for their roles in running a criminal enterprise blamed for a total of 10 murders.
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