Back in July, prosecutors in the upcoming trial of former presidential advisor Roger Stone filed a motion seeking to show a 4-minute clip from the mob movie The Godfather II. Their intention was to help jurors understand a text Stone sent to radio host Randy Credico prior to Credico’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. As Law & Crime reports, the government contends the scene would provide “important context for understanding Stone’s references—including what Stone intended to communicate to the witness and how Stone would have understood the witness’s likely understanding of those messages.”
This Monday, the federal judge overseeing the trial ruled that prosecutors will not be allowed to show the clip, but they can instead present a transcript of the scene for the jury to read.
As Law & Crime points out, the scene focuses on the movie character Frank Pentangeli, a mob member who lies under oath when testifying about organized crime.
Prosecutors allege that Stone, who is facing charges of lying to Congress and witness tampering, lied when he testified before the House Intelligence Committee regarding his communications with Wikileaks and Credico. In order to make sure their stories aligned, Stone allegedly encouraged Credico to repeat the same false testimony during his deposition in front of the Committee. Stone’s encouragement allegedly occurred in several ways, one of which was a text message that read “Start practicing your Pantagele [sic],” a reference to the character from the film.
Stone has pleaded not guilty to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of making false statements, and one count of witness tampering. His trial is set to begin on November 5.
Featured image: Victoria Pickering/Flickr
