Jury Hears Replay Of FBI Tapes, Begins Deliberating In Fattah Jr. Trial
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- In its first full day of deliberations at the bank and tax fraud trial of Chaka Fattah Jr., jurors heard a replay of tapes caught by the FBI.
They'll return to talking it over Thursday.
Jurors requested court transcripts of the audio, but Federal Judge Harvey Bartle replied he would not provide them, because transcripts were not evidence. But he did allow jurors to follow the narrative of the transcripts on their screens in the jury box.
Jurors spent about 90-minutes listening to secretly recorded conversations between Fattah Jr. and his one-time business associate and former roommate at a posh Center City spot.
The FBI had put a wire on Matthew Amato, and as Fattah downed Belvedere vodka and cranberry juice at R2L Restaurant, Fattah is heard boasting of his casino winnings and business acumen - especially making deals.
Amato eventually pleaded guilty to similar bank fraud charges and testified against Fattah.
Jurors asked for all eight tapes, and after listening to the first one, which lasted an hour, one juror looked to the back row and appeared to mouth the words "is that enough," as if to appease a fellow juror. Nearly a half hour into the second tape, during a brief pause, a juror got the attention of the judge, and then said out loud "we heard what we wanted to hear." With that, jurors returned to the deliberations room.
