Prosecutors say witnesses afraid in Teamsters case
Federal prosecutors don’t want to disclose the names of witnesses who may testify against Teamsters accused of extorting producers of the reality show “Top Chef,” arguing that some are scared and can’t be found.
“Some of our witnesses we can’t even locate,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Kaplan said. “They are afraid. They move. They change professions, and they are fearful.”
Kaplan also referenced the fact that defense attorneys in the federal extortion case put full names of witnesses in a recent filing that “the next day promptly showed up in the Boston Herald.”
In the story, printed Monday, the Herald reported that “Top Chef” star Padma Lakshmi was among the witnesses divulged by defense attorneys for defendants Daniel Redmond, John Fidler, Michael Ross and Robert Cafarelli.
U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock indicated he may allow prosecutors to file their witness list under a protective order.
Currently, prosecutors have listed the witnesses by their initials, and defense attorneys for the Teamsters argue they are being forced to “guess at the identity of some witnesses” without having “knowledge of the identities of most,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors argue the Teamsters were angry that “Top Chef” — the hit Bravo cooking show — refused to hire Local 25 members as drivers. Redmond, Fidler, Cafarelli and Ross are accused of showing up at a “Top Chef” filming location in Milton, where at least two or three of the men chest-bumped crew members while trying to force their way into a restaurant, according to court papers.
It’s alleged the defendants screamed profanities and racial and homophobic slurs at the crew and blocked a food delivery truck from entering the set. Nine crew members’ car tires were slashed, prosecutors said.