It was an average September day. Stephen Rosati, a young businessman, was working with his dad at their real estate company in Rhode Island when a half-dozen policemen entered and arrested him for murdering Joe Viscido, Jr., a drug dealer in Florida, four years earlier. Peter Dallas, had admitted to the crime and said he did it with Stephen. Stephen claimed he never heard of the dead man, didn't know the witnesses, didn't know his supposed accomplice and, on top of that, was 1500 miles away when the crime went down!
Like something out of Kafka, Stephen Rosati found himself imprisoned in a non-bailable offense, and thus began the longest extradition hearing in US history.
Many of the characters are well-known. In Rhode Island there was Jack Cicilline, mob lawyer who had been called, by Alan Dershowitz, "one of the keenest legal minds in New England," the prosecutor, Assistant AG Randy White, brother of a TV 10 news anchor, Sheldon Whitehouse, later-day US senator, who would make a decision that would help send Rosati to the gallows, and the judge, John F. Sheehan, nationally famous for helping defend socialite Claus von Bulow, accused of trying to kill his wife. And in Florida, there was Governor Chiles, who appointed an independent prosecutor to figure out who the real killers were, Assistant AG Chuck Morton, who had been on 48 Hours and the real hero, Special Agent Michael Breece, who discovered the truth to this complex case.
The author is handwriting expert, Dr. Marc Seifer, whose book Wizard: The Life & Times of Nikola Tesla, often tracks as the #1 book in its subcategory. Featured in The New York Times, Wizard has been called "revelatory" by Publisher's Weekly and a "masterpiece" by Nelson DeMille. With direct access to the 1,500-page police log used to put the case together, 1,400-page court transcripts, 200 newspaper articles, depositions and interviews, Mr. Rhode Island is a must read.
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Marc J. Seifer, PhD has been a handwriting expert for more than 35 years and was editor-in-chief of The Journal of the American Society of Professional Graphologists for more than a decade. He has worked for the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office and Crime Laboratory, the Department of Defense, Undersea Warfare, United Parcel Service, and numerous banks, insurance agencies, and lawyers. He was featured on the History Channel discussing the Howard Hughes Mormon Will and on Associated Press International TV on the handwriting of bin Laden. He has lectured at Oxford University, Cambridge University, Brandeis, Cranbrook Retreat, and numerous conferences around the world. Dr. Seifer teaches psychology and forensic graphology at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A choice pick for community library Criminology Studies collections,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mr. Rhode Island: A Harrowing Courtroom Thriller! (Hardcover)
When you're busy trying to make your fortune, being a suspect in a murder case can prove to be quite the distraction. "Mr. Rhode Island" tells the story of Stephen Rosati, a former bodybuilder trying to make his way as a real estate and fitness club mogul. But when he's accused of murdering a drug lord in Florida, his life spirals out of control as Marc J. Seifer details his story in this real-life courtroom drama. "Mr. Rhode Island" is a choice pick for community library Criminology Studies collections and the supplemental reading lists for those seeking a true to life legal tale.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelievable injustice!,
By
This review is from: Mr. Rhode Island: A Harrowing Courtroom Thriller! (Hardcover)
Mr. Rhode Island plays out like a classic Greek tragedy. The book begins with a newspaper article concerning a quest by the father of a murdered man to find the scum who killed his son. Bent on revenge, Mr. Viscido prompts the Broward Police Department to fashion a complex case against three men for this murder: Pete the Greek, a Porsche-driving rogue of questionable repute; Stephen Rosati, a former nightclub stripper from southern Florida and now a businessman in his home state of Rhode Island; and Peter Dallas, who admits to the crime and says he killed Viscido with Rosati. Here's the problem, Rosati says he not only does not know the dead man or any of the witnesses, he also claims he never met Peter Dallas and further, he wasn't in Florida when the murder was committed. Since Rosati is co-author, he takes the reader inside the prison walls as we suffer along with him in his quest to survive in a very difficult environment. Meanwhile, on the outside, Rosati's parents hire Jack Cicilline, a lawyer for the mob, but also the best criminal attorney in Rhode Island, to battle wits against his old nemesis, Randy White, the state prosecutor. The scene shifts to the extradition hearing itself, which is presided by Judge Sheehan, who happened to have been Cicilline's former law partner! Well, that's Rhode Island for you! Seifer does an admirable job of letting the reader see Judge Sheehan's dilemma. If Stephen Rosati loses his court battle, he may very well face the electric chair in Florida. As Seifer makes abundantly clear, Judge Sheehan was convinced of Stephen Rosati's innocence, yet still he rules to extradite. Stephen's parents look on helplessly as the state judicial machines of Rhode Island and Florida move inexorably to end the life of their only son. This book is complicated, so you do have to concentrate. But because it is true, it is unpredictable with a surprising number of twists and turns as Rosati's lawyer does everything he can to save the life of an innocent man. Bravo, indeed! A great read.
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