Bruce Cutler
| Bruce Cutler | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 29, 1948 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater |
Brooklyn Law School Hamilton College |
| Occupation | Trial attorney |
| Known for | Representing John Gotti and Phil Spector |
| Website | http://www.brucecutler.com |
Bruce Cutler (born April 29, 1948) is an American criminal defense lawyer best known for having defended John Gotti, and for media appearances as a legal commentator.
His father, Murray Cutler, was a New York City detective who later became a criminal defense attorney. While being interviewed on the radio program Conversations With Allan Wolper on WBGO 88.3 FM, Cutler said that he was inspired by his father's pro-labor, pro-union loyalties to a FDR-style Social Democratic position.
Cutler—and his brother Rich, a federal prosecutor in San Jose, California before joining the law firm Dechert in 2007—grew up in Brooklyn and were good athletes. They spent many summers at Camp Ma-Ho-Ge in Bethel, New York.
Bruce Cutler graduated from Hamilton College where he was captain of the football and lacrosse teams, and graduated cum laude from Brooklyn Law School. He worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), and became its top homicide prosecutor.
Cutler gained notoriety in the 1980s when he won three acquittals for Gambino Crime Family boss John Gotti (including one where at least one juror accepted a bribe in return for voting to find Gotti not guilty).
When Gotti was indicted in 1990 for the 1985 murder of Paul Castellano and several other crimes, presiding judge I. Leo Glasser disqualified Cutler and two associates from representing Gotti. Citing evidence from wiretaps at Gotti's Ravenite club, prosecutors contended that Cutler and his colleagues may have known about criminal activity. Since the attorney-client privilege doesn't apply in these circumstances, prosecutors argued that Cutler was "part of the evidence" and thus liable to be called as a witness. They also argued that Cutler had represented other potential witnesses and thus had a conflict of interest. Glasser sided with the prosecutors, contending that Cutler was the "in-house counsel" for the Gambino family.
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