If you’ve ever seen a mob movie or TV show, you know that members of the mafia have a language all their own. Which is not exactly helpful when other people like, say, jurors are trying to understand what the hell you’re talking about. Consequently, as his testimony continued yesterday, Bonanno family boss Joseph Massino “spent much of [the day] explaining the terminology and context of the conversations that he secretly recorded for federal authorities,” the Times reports:
In one instance, Taryn A. Merkl, a federal prosecutor, asked Mr. Massino what he meant when he said in the recording, “Vic, Vic was a boob,” referring to Mr. Massino’s former private investigator.
“That he was a boob,” Mr. Massino responded.
“What did you conclude about that?” she pressed further.
And that’s why it took most of the day.
