How did huge mob bosses that “everybody knew” was a mob boss, or criminal running the place, etc, get away with it?
In: Other
Finally, a question I know the answer to. It’s the rule about what evidence can be admitted into a courtroom, namely hearsay.
Hearsay is “an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of whatever it asserts.” As such, rumor and hearsay are inadmissible in a court of law. So only things that people witnessed with their eyes were admissible. And the mob bosses were very cautious not to do illegal things unless they trusted everyone in the room.
Boss tells lieutenant to kill Linda. This (ordering a hit) is an illegal act. Lieutenant delegates to henchman to kill Linda. Henchmen gets picked up by the fuzz and says Boss ordered the hit.
Police: “Did you witness boss order the hit?”
Henchman: “No. But lieutenant said it was the bosses order.”
That is inadmissible as hearsay, and only henchman and lieutenant can be prosecuted.
They of course, changed these laws with the Rico statutes.
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