CHUCK SCHWARZ, decorated cop and ex-Marine hero, walked from the sixth floor of the Brooklyn Federal Court Building on the dot of 5 p.m. yesterday to sleep in a steel cage to battle his nightmares.
But last night, the eternal triangle of Johnnie Cochran, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld slept well with dreams of millions.
All three can take great credit for returning O.J. Simpson to the law-abiding citizenry he respects so much.
Now they are representing Abner Louima and are suing the city and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association for as much as a quarter of a billion dollars.
As brilliant as they are, perhaps these legal eagles need a tad of a brushup on the basic tactics of law.
Simply put: Never overindulge your star witness and victim like a force-fed goose — lest he throws up.
To attack Louima’s credibility does nothing to distract the monstrous act committed by ex-cop Justin Volpe. What he did to Louima was indefensible.
But Abner Louima, a very decent man, is not a sophisticate like Johnnie Cochran, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld.
“Louima is being scripted,” said Joseph Tacopina, who represents the beleaguered cop Thomas Wiese. “The trouble is he doesn’t know what script he’s reading.”
Louima has changed his original story of the outrage more times than jocks change their socks.
“He was five times under oath and suddenly he says as two officers are in the bathroom committing a terrible crime he hears the bathroom door open and then he hears it close,” Tacopina said.
“What prosecutor Alan Vinegrad is trying to do is involve three cops in this conspiracy, including Justin Volpe, and the next thing we know he’ll involve the entire 70th Precinct and possibly Police Commissioner Howard Safir to boot. This is a joke.”
Ron Fischetti, representing Chuck Schwarz, a man who I will tell you right now is not guilty, said: “Interesting that one time Mr. Louima says he was not held down by a second cop, now he says he was. He says someone had a foot on his mouth, but couldn’t identify the person who had a foot on his mouth. He talked about the now-famous ‘It’s Giuliani time’ and he retracted it.”
The fact is — with visions of millions of dollars in contingency fees dancing in their heads — the triangle of Cochran, Scheck and Neufeld have been prepping Louima.
No sin in that.
In fact, if Cochran, Scheck and Neufeld are representing Abner Louima on a pro-bono basis, I will give them bouquets.
But these guys are writing a script that Louima cannot act out — hence the bizarre discrepancies. Even Alan Vinegrad is hotter than a fox in a firestorm about the intrusion.
“Worst of all they’re even suing the PBA, and on what ground? I’m damned if I know,” said Stuart London, representing a great kid called Thomas Bruder.
John Puglissi, senior vice president of the PBA, told me: “These guys are trying to break this union. Trying to bankrupt our union.”
Andra Schwarz, the petite dark-haired wife of Chuck, had to see a loved one go away again yesterday to his locked steel cage.
“I don’t blame Louima as much as I blame the prosecutors and the lawyers,” she told me. “If you don’t seek the truth, you won’t get the truth.”
Schwarz’s lawyer, Ron Fischetti, is a bit more of a pro then I am. And calms himself down when he wants to tip his mitt.
I don’t have that skill. Chuck Schwarz should be a free man.
The prosecution knows it, and so do Cochran, Scheck and Neufeld.
Tommy Bruder did nothing wrong, and Tommy Wiese was an unwitting pawn. I hope Vinegrad, Cochran, Scheck and Neufeld sleep well tonight.
I’m not quite sure I will — nor should any decent, right-thinking human.