HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011409

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The last point I want to make, your Honor, on this

issue of consciousness of guilt relates to the one case that

they cite for the proposition that there is some ability to

have a consciousness of guilt theory in a civil case. They cite a Second Circuit criminal case in which the defendant was a man named Amuso. This is at 21 F.3d 1251, and it's a 1994 case. Mr. Amuso was a leader in the Lucchese crime family who, over a course of time, ordered 14 murders and then absconded from the jurisdiction during the trial of a number of co-defendants. And it was called "The Windows" case here in New York, and you may remember it, your Honor, because it was the Lucchese crime family that was controlling the replacement

window unions in the city of New York. So Mr. Amuso goes to

trial, and the government requested and received an instruction

to the jury that said not only his flight was consciousness of

guilt but the length of the absence of his flight was

consciousness of guilt. And in fact, the Second Circuit

reversed that instruction and disapproved it in that criminal

case but didn't reverse his conviction because the evidence of

guilt was overwhelming. So the one case that they cite for

this proposition in fact is inapposite to the position that

they're taking here today.

So I think your Honor and I are indeed on the same

page here, and I'd ask that the Court simply apply the law in

Tillery.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011409