Putting evidence to the test

The congressman wants any and all wallets the contractor used, but he didn't say with or without cash inside.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CLEVELAND -- Here's the scene: In the mid-1990s, Jim Traficant uses an official U.S. House of Representatives ink pen to write a "to-do" list on the corner of a restaurant place mat.
His saddle horses need oats, sawdust for bedding and sand in a corral so they can exercise. He also needs fill dirt, debris hauled away, driveways paved between the barns, hay wagons and other stuff.
He throws in "429 drive" -- a driveway for his Main Street house in Poland. It's been 10 years since Jimmy Sabatine paved it for free.
Tony Bucci moves his mouth into a phony smile, takes the place-mat fragment, folds it and puts it in his wallet.
He does the work, for free, except the "429 driveway." He couldn't risk stealing the blacktop from a Poland streets project; the inspector was a new guy.
The place mat stays tucked in his wallet for years. Some day, he thinks, some day...
The day arrived in U.S. District Court when Bucci, on the witness stand, watched as the place-mat fragment appeared on an overhead projector. The crooked contractor had a gotcha grin on his face.
Response: Not so fast, the congressman says.
Lemme see your wallet.
This is a new wallet, Bucci says.
Fine, Traficant says.
I'm gonna subpoena the wallet you carried that place mat in. In fact, I'm gonna subpoena your new wallet and every wallet you ever carried, cash inside optional.
The motion to compel Bucci to produce his wallets was duly filed with the court. Seriously.
In the meantime, the place-mat scrap is going to be subjected to forensic analysis -- "nonchemical, nondestructive examination by an expert who has a history of handling and reviewing documents."
Huh?
Traficant's expert has eaten at Chi Chi's, Boulevard Tavern, Perkins, Eat 'N Park, Boomba's, Molly's, Trax, Bob Evans, Applebee's, The Hub and truck stops from Austintown to North Lima.
The expert's degree is printed on a place mat -- impressive, eh?
Sabatine: This coming week, Traficant also will arrange for another scientific test trying to prove Jimmy Sabatine was never in a horse stall, handing over 24 crisp $100 bills.
Sabatine can be found under "S" in the alphabetical list of contractors Traficant invited to his Greenford horse farm and, between hugs and back slaps, showed all the stuff that needed to be done.
Traficant, in a masterful Johnnie Cochranesque cross-examination technique, showed the jury last week that Sabatine could not even recall the name of the barn.
Traficant also wanted Sabatine to describe the stall floor, size of the stall and barn. Not all stalls and barns look alike, huh?
Aside from being clueless on the barn name, Sabatine was vague about what was on the floor. He estimated a 20 x 10-foot stall and "pretty good size barn."
Traficant scoffed: "You don't even know the surface of the barn floor!"
Sabatine's impeccable manners his first day on the witness stand prevented him from describing the congressman's horse stalls.
The contractor had a change of heart the second day.
There was horse manure EVERYWHERE -- that's what was on the floor -- so there, he said.
Yikes. Forget the testimony about taking bribes, kickbacks and free stuff at the farm -- Traficant's lack of barn cleanliness was now a part of the trial transcript!
What a blow to Traficant's reputation.
More tests: The congressman, though, knew he had Sabatine right where he wanted him.
Oh yeah, this calls for more scientific tests.
Traficant will subpoena the shoes Sabatine wore when he stood in the horse stall and handed over 24 crisp $100 bills. In fact, the congressman will subpoena all of Sabatine's shoes, boots and slippers -- the ones he has now -- and every pair he ever wore, cash inside optional.
The motion to compel Sabatine to produce his footwear, past and present, will be duly filed with the court. Seriously.
Traficant will then notify the court this week that he intends to subject Sabatine's shoes to forensic analysis -- "nonchemical, nondestructive examination by an expert who has a history of handling and reviewing horse manure on footwear."
Huh?
Traficant's expert has scraped horse manure from cowboy boots, wingtips, penny loafers, sneakers, moccasins, sandals, hiking boots and fishing waders. He can pinpoint, with stunning accuracy, well, with some accuracy, well, with highly doubtful accuracy, if the deposit being tested came from a particular horse.
The expert's degree is printed on a brown-stained paper -- impressive, eh?
As part of the scientific test, the expert will have to scrape brown goo off Sabatine's shoes.
One look at Sabatine's GQ style and you know there won't be anything on his shoes except expensive polish.
No problem.
The manure expert, you see, always rubs his hands on his official-looking smeared-brown plastic apron. Traces of the brown smears, the result of many tests, will transfer to Sabatine's shoes.
The expert will then be able to say that his test of Sabatine's shoes proves the traces of manure did not come from any horse at Traficant's farm.
As with the place-mat expert, the horse manure expert will be told that he's getting paid out of Traficant's legal defense fund.
meade@vindy.com
Patricia Meade, crime reporter, covers the Traficant trial for The Vindicator. Today's article is one in a periodic series of Reporter Notebook features, perspectives and analyses tied to trial developments.