A lawyer for a reputed wiseguy accused of plotting to whack Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano fought to have her flabby client and a tattoo expert strip off their shirts and display their body art to the jury – prompting a stern warning from the judge.
Defense attorney Valerie Amsterdam initially whispered her concerns about what jurors might be imagining when it comes to roly-poly Thomas “Huck” Carbonaro’s tattoos – and suggested to Brooklyn federal Judge Allyne Ross that disrobing was the answer.
But when her fellow defense lawyer, John Jacobs, protested the unorthodox approach, the disagreement escalated into an audible clash – prompting the judge to quickly dismiss the jury.
“You cannot turn this into a circus. This is a trial, and . . . arguments in front of the jury are not acceptable,” Ross said. “Your client is shaking his head no.”
The fight broke out shortly after tattoo expert Joel Kaplan viewed Carbonaro’s tattoos in a private room and took the witness stand for the defense team.
Jurors in the case were only allowed to see photographs of three of Carbonaro’s numerous tattoos: “Rats Get Fat While Good Men Die,” “Death Before Dishonor,” and “Those Who Tell Do Not Know, And Those Who Know Do Not Tell.”
A picture of the first was edited to eliminate a picture of a rat climbing on a skull.