In Episode 3 of the Law & the Body Politic, I talk with my college roommate and good friend, Attorney Patrick Cotter, about his experience prosecuting John Gotti and the Gambino Family. We take you through the investigation, the wiretaps, and the trial. Along the way we discuss topics ranging from the sublime, such as the function and operations of the grand jury, to the ridiculous, John Gotti’s hair-stylist. We discuss what it was like for Pat to sit on Sammy “the Bull” Gravano’s bed in his jail cell to prepare Sammy for trial. We discuss a late night meeting with the Judge where Pat and the other prosecutors learned that there was a contract out on them.
Patrick Cotter is a 1982 graduate of the NYU School of Law. After a stint as a public defender, Mr. Cotter joined the Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York, where he prosecuted Gotti and many others. After leaving the Federal Government, Pat has been a law professor and a criminal defense lawyer in complex white-collar cases. He is leader of his Chicago law firm’s Government Interaction practice group, where he assists clients in dealing with an array of government agencies, including the FBI, EPA, IRS, FTC and the Department of Justice.
Pat appears frequently as a legal commentator on television and radio and his is legal commentary has appeared in newspapers in Chicago and around the country, and he has taught criminal law courses at universities in the U.S. and Ireland.
In Episode 3 of the Law & the Body Politic, I talk with my college roommate and good friend, Attorney Patrick Cotter, about his experience prosecuting John Gotti and the Gambino Family. We take you through the investigation, the wiretaps, and the trial. Along the way we discuss topics ranging from the sublime, such as the function and operations of the grand jury, to the ridiculous, John Gotti’s hair-stylist. We discuss what it was like for Pat to sit on Sammy “the Bull” Gravano’s bed in his jail cell to prepare Sammy for trial. We discuss a late night meeting with the Judge where Pat and the other prosecutors learned that there was a contract out on them.
Patrick Cotter is a 1982 graduate of the NYU School of Law. After a stint as a public defender, Mr. Cotter joined the Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York, where he prosecuted Gotti and many others. After leaving the Federal Government, Pat has been a law professor and a criminal defense lawyer in complex white-collar cases. He is leader of his Chicago law firm’s Government Interaction practice group, where he assists clients in dealing with an array of government agencies, including the FBI, EPA, IRS, FTC and the Department of Justice.
Pat appears frequently as a legal commentator on television and radio and his is legal commentary has appeared in newspapers in Chicago and around the country, and he has taught criminal law courses at universities in the U.S. and Ireland.