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(AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, File)
FILE- This file photo taken March 9, 2006, shows Victoria Gotti, mother of John ''Junior'' Gotti, entering Manhattan federal court in New York. Victoria Gotti unleashed a profanity-laced tirade Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, after a judge dismissed two anonymous jurors at her son's racketeering trial, saying he was being cheated of a fair trail as his father had been. The trial is the fourth for Gotti in the past four years. The others ended in hung juries.
NEW YORK— John "Junior" Gotti's mother unleashed a profanity-laced tirade Wednesday after a judge dismissed two anonymous jurors at her son's racketeering trial, saying he was being cheated of a fair trial as his father had been.
"They're railroading you!" Victoria Gotti shouted as she stood in the spectator section several feet behind her son. "They're doing to you what they did to your father."
John Gotti Sr. was convicted of racketeering in 1991 after several previous trials had ended in deadlocked juries. He died in prison in 2002.
Mrs. Gotti's outburst came as the two-month trial nears its end and after several notes from jurors over a period of weeks indicated there were personality issues bothering some of them.
The trial is the fourth for Gotti in the past four years. The others ended in hung juries.
Even before the latest trial began, seven jurors asked to be relieved of the jury duty. Five complained of issues such as damage it would cause to their jobs or personal finances, but two suggested that they feared being on a jury for an organized crime trial.
Several weeks ago, the judge revealed that he had received an anonymous letter to the court purportedly from a juror who was angry that one juror seemed to be fawning over the defense lawyer's presentation. As a result, the judge questioned each juror about any concerns but none arose.
Castel dismissed the two jurors Wednesday after one complained this week that a fellow juror had made her feel "very uncomfortable."
The juror told Castel that the woman told her at one point: "I'd rather phony people not speak to me at all."
The juror added: "I don't need that. I should be spanking her."
