Editing John Gotti (section)

=== "The Teflon Don" ===
Gotti often smiled and waved at news cameras at his trials, which gained him favor with some of the general public.<ref name=ruthless/> His newfound notoriety had at least one positive effect; upon the revelation of his attacker's occupation, and amid reports of intimidation by the Gambinos, Piecyk decided not to testify against Gotti, thanks to [[Boško Radonjić|Boško "The Yugo" Radonjić]], the head of the [[Westies]] in [[Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan|Hell's Kitchen]]. When Gotti's trial began in March 1986, Piecyk testified he was unable to remember who attacked him. The case was promptly dismissed, with the ''[[New York Post]]'' summarizing the proceedings with the headline, "I For Gotti!"<ref name="TimeAssaultOne"/><ref name="RnF 122-124">Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 122–124</ref> It was later revealed that Gambino mobsters had severed Piecyk's brake lines, made threatening phone calls, and [[stalking|stalked]] Piecyk before the trial.<ref>Raab, p. 386.</ref>

On April 13, 1986, Frank DeCicco was killed in a [[car bomb]]ing following a visit to Castellano loyalist [[James Failla]]. The bombing was carried out by [[Victor Amuso]] and [[Anthony Casso]] of the Lucchese family, under orders of Gigante and Lucchese boss [[Anthony Corallo]], to avenge Castellano and Bilotti by killing their successors; Gotti also planned to visit Failla that day but canceled, and the bomb was detonated after a soldier who rode with DeCicco was mistaken for the boss.<ref name="raab 473">Raab, pp. 473–476</ref> Bombs had long been banned by the Mafia out of concern that it would put innocent people in harm's way, leading the Gambinos to initially suspect that "[[zips]]"—[[Sicilian Mafia|Sicilian ''mafiosi'']] working in the U.S.—were behind it; zips were well known for using bombs.<ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 139–140</ref>

Following the bombing, Judge [[Eugene Nickerson]], presiding over Gotti's racketeering trial, rescheduled to avoid a jury tainted by the resulting publicity, while Giacalone had Gotti's [[bail]] revoked due to evidence of [[witness intimidation]] in the Piecyk case.<ref>Raab, p. 385</ref><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 142–143</ref> From jail, Gotti ordered the murder of DiBernardo by Gravano; both DiBernardo and Ruggiero had been vying to succeed DeCicco until Ruggiero accused DiBernardo of challenging Gotti's leadership.<ref>Raab, p. 390</ref> When Ruggiero, also under indictment, had his bail revoked for his abrasive behavior in preliminary hearings, a frustrated Gotti instead promoted Armone to underboss.<ref>Maas, p. 351</ref>

[[Jury selection]] for the racketeering case began again in August 1986,<ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 159</ref> with Gotti standing trial alongside his ex-companion Johnson (who, despite being exposed as an informant, refused to [[turn state's evidence]]<ref>Raab, p. 392</ref>), [[Leonard DiMaria]], [[Tony Rampino]], [[Nicholas Corozzo]], and [[John Carneglia]].<ref name="NYT Teflon">{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Gotti Is {{as written|Aquitted [sic]}} In Conspiracy Case Involving The Mob|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/14/nyregion/gotti-is-aquitted-in-conspiracy-case-involving-the-mob.html|access-date=September 3, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 14, 1987|quote=John Gotti was acquitted of Federal racketeering and conspiracy charges yesterday|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501221156/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/14/nyregion/gotti-is-aquitted-in-conspiracy-case-involving-the-mob.html|archive-date=May 1, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> At this point, the Gambino family were able to compromise the case when George Pape hid his friendship with Radonjić and was empaneled as juror No. 11.<ref name=Papeconvict/> Through Radonjić, Pape contacted Gravano and agreed to sell his vote on the jury for $60,000.<ref name="rnf 173">Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 173–175</ref>

In the trial's opening statements on September 25, Gotti's [[defense (law)|defense]] attorney [[Bruce Cutler]] denied the existence of the Gambino family and framed the government's entire effort as a personal vendetta.<ref>Davis, 306–307</ref> His main defense strategy during the prosecution was to attack the credibility of Giacalone's witnesses by discussing the crimes they committed before turning state's evidence.<ref name="r394">Raab, p. 394</ref> During Gotti's defense, Cutler called bank robber Matthew Traynor, a would-be prosecution witness dropped for unreliability, who testified that Giacalone offered him drugs and her underwear as a [[masturbation]] aid in exchange for his testimony; Traynor's allegations would be dismissed by Judge Nickerson as "wholly unbelievable" after the trial, and he was subsequently convicted of [[perjury]].<ref name="r394"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Judge Finds Gotti Prosecutors Did Not Ask A Witness To Lie|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/18/nyregion/judge-finds-gotti-prosecutors-did-not-ask-a-witness-to-lie.html|access-date=October 9, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 18, 1987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424035839/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/18/nyregion/judge-finds-gotti-prosecutors-did-not-ask-a-witness-to-lie.html|archive-date=April 24, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite Cutler's defense and critiques about the prosecution's performance, according to mob writers Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain, when the jury's deliberations began, a majority were in favor of convicting Gotti. However, due to Pape's misconduct, Gotti knew from the beginning of the trial that he could do no worse than a [[hung jury]]. During deliberations, Pape held out for [[acquittal]] until the rest of the jury began to fear their own safety would be compromised.<ref name="rnf 173"/> On March 13, 1987, they acquitted Gotti and his codefendants of all charges, including loansharking, illegal gambling, murder and truck hijackings.<ref name="NYT Teflon"/> Five years later, Pape was convicted of [[obstruction of justice]] for his part in the fix,<ref name=Papeconvict>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Juror Is Convicted of Selling Vote to Gotti|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/07/nyregion/juror-is-convicted-of-selling-vote-to-gotti.html|access-date=October 9, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 7, 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501215253/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/07/nyregion/juror-is-convicted-of-selling-vote-to-gotti.html|archive-date=May 1, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and sentenced to three years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|last=Feuer|first=Alan|title=Jury-Fixing Case Dropped After Arrest of Gravano|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/03/nyregion/jury-fixing-case-dropped-after-arrest-of-gravano.html|access-date=November 12, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 5, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113055421/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/03/nyregion/jury-fixing-case-dropped-after-arrest-of-gravano.html|archive-date=November 13, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the face of previous Mafia convictions, particularly the success of the Mafia Commission Trial, Gotti's acquittal was a major upset that further added to his reputation.<ref>Raab, p. 397</ref> The American media dubbed him "The Teflon Don" in reference to the failure of any charges to "stick."<ref>Raab, p. 399</ref>