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Behind the cross examinationUPDATED X1

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* The feds have never whistled in Bill Cellini or Tony Rezko, instead relying on Stu Levine’s testimony and tapes of his phone recordings to put Rezko behind bars. Some might argue that the G didn’t want to undercut their case by asking Cellini for his side, and this might be more evidence to buttress that suspicion…

Levine admitted Monday that despite his many attempts at taping Vrdolyak and Singer, federal agents never asked him to try to record Rezko, nor, said Levine, did they ask him to wear a wire to a party he was invited to on March 25, 2006, by fellow power broker William Cellini.

* Duffy apparently wants to show how Levine and the G selectively interpreted some of the surveillance tapes…

As the lawyers were preparing to leave the courtroom, Duffy told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that he would soon like to play some of Levine’s undercover tapes that the prosecution chose not to play in its case.

Duffy argued that the playing of the tapes would best be used as part of his cross-examination, but St. Eve said she would mull the issue overnight. In the alternative, the tapes could be presented by the defense when Duffy puts on his case in chief.

* More doubt cast on the tapes…

[Duffy] continued pressing Stuart Levine about his history of drug use, raising a point about recorded phone calls in the case.

Levine has said that after his all-night drug binges at hotels, he would often go home to rest and not go into his office.

Well, Duffy asked, weren’t many of the calls the jury has heard made from or received at Levine’s house during late-morning hours on weekdays?

Levine agreed that was accurate.

So, Duffy asked, were some of those calls made after Levine had been up for 24 straight hours doing lines of crystal methamphetamine?

“I don’t know, sir,” answered Levine, acknowledging that he stayed home from work quite a bit.

* This is odd…

The defense attorney for Antoin “Tony” Rezko implied Monday that star witness Stuart Levine may have intentionally sabotaged his undercover activities toward a target he was supposed to be tape recording for federal investigators.

As Rezko’s corruption trial entered its fourth full week, his attorney Joseph Duffy questioned Levine about a June 10, 2007, tape recording Levine made of former Chicago Alderman William Singer. The recording was one of several secret tape recordings Levine had made for the government up to that point, each time wearing two recording devices.

Levine testified that up to that point, he knew of no instances where either of the recording devices he used had failed. Yet, somehow on that day both were shut off, Levine admitted.

* And this may be more important for what the defense plans to show about the “real” reason that certain votes went the way they did at the hospital board…

Stuart Levine just testified that he met the late Orlando Jones (godson of the late John Stroger) for the first time at a dinner party Nov. 2, 2002. That’s the same dinner party where Levine said he met Tony Rezko for the first time.

But there was something that doesn’t make sense about Levine’s testimony.

Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy, who has challenged Levine’s memory all day, showed Levine board meeting minutes from three dates in 2002. In those meetings of the Illinois Health Facilities PLanning board, records show that Jones sat on the board with Levine. Jones and Levine had three, half-day long meetings prior to the November dinner party

*** UPDATE *** 1:20 (Kevin): Chipping away at Levine’s credibility

Joseph Duffy, is trying to punch more holes in Stuart Levine’s credibility as he walks him through efforts to cover his tracks after the FBI first visited him:

Levine said the FBI visit had a “substantial effect” on him, causing him to stop taking illegal drugs and cease other criminal activity.

After making that claim, Duffy asked Levine about a $15 million life-insurance policy he took out after the FBI visit that he had assigned to a North Chicago medical school in an attempt to make it whole for money that he and business partner Robert Weinstein had stolen from the school on whose board they served as trustees.

Levine admitted that he lied on the application about his past drug use. His net worth on the policy application was also greatly exaggerated. Levine said he wrote a $160,000 check for the first two years of policy premiums on the checking account of a non-profit, assisted-living center in Florida that he and Weinstein controlled.

Duffy asked Levine “Again, I go back to the question I asked before, after May 20 of 2004, did you ever again engage in criminal activity.”
“Yes, sir,” Levine responded.

* Then Duffy went after the discrepancy over his drug use. Levine previously said in an interview last September that he went “cold turkey” after the May 2004 visit from the FBI.

But just a week before the Rezko trial began, Levine told investigators something different. In that interview, he said he stopped taking drugs within two or three months after the FBI visit. Levine’s explanation was:

“It is my recollection that it is possible that after May 20 there may have been a time or two that I did illegal drugs that I did not recall whether or not I had,” Levine said. “But that would have been it. . . .”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 9:02 am

Comments

It’s odd that the feds didn’t have Levine wear a wire on Rezko or Cellini. If Levine is to be believed, Rezko was not especially discreet in one-on-one private conversations, so he apparently wasn’t suspicious of Levine being a rat. From what’s been released so far, Rezko was quite cautious on the phone, which I infer to mean that he was aware the government could be wiretapping him.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 9:49 am
Something needs to be dismissed, this case and/or Levine!!! He clearly doesn’t have the ability to recall anything and is still lying!

Comment by reasonable 1 Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 10:21 am
Let it all playout folks. Levine is not the only witness in this trial, the government hasn’t put all its evidence on the table yet and the defense hasn’t put its case on.

And there is a whole den of thieves yet to be indicted!

Comment by Leave a light on George Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 10:29 am
I haven’t been able to find answers to these anywhere else, so I’ll throw it to the group:

I know Levine pleaded guilty and will be sentenced based on his cooperation, but is he in federal custody? House arrest? Ankle bracelet monitoring? Apparently he has a job, so he has some freedom of movement. Are his movements and associations restricted or monitored? As a convicted felon, is he subject right now to any sort of drug testing? Is it being done?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 11:34 am
Wordslinger, you said, “if Levine is to be believed”. Boy, is that a mouthful. I know that the feds don’t get their witnesses out of central casting, but this guy is not just a rat, he’s a hall-of-fame mutt as a witness. I recognize that the case has just started, but I could see it blowing up because of his lack of credibility.

Comment by chiatty Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 1:10 pm
Stu finally gave the name of Party Central - Springfield…
Levine and a regular group of male drug buddies favored a Lincolnwood hotel for the frequent binges, but he said they would sometimes shift the parties to tony downtown hotels. Levine said he often chartered a plane and flew his drug buddies to Springfield, where they partied in what was then known as the Renaissance Hotel. It was owned by William Cellini, a Springfield power broker identified by prosecutors as an unindicted co-schemer in the case against Rezko.

Comment by Sock Puppet Express Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 4:57 pm
This guy just can’t tell the truth. Perhaps he is a compulsive liar. He went “cold turkey” after the feds paid him a visit. ?? After all of that supposed drug use, i venture to say that that is next to impossible.

Comment by Shelbyville Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 6:27 pm
is it over yet……….please

Comment by stuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!! Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 9:18 pm
if not…..can i have a standing eight(ball) count

Comment by stuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!! Tuesday, Apr 8, 08 @ 9:25 pm