news article: twins take turns being the defendant

[Identify]

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/may/05 ... so-jailed/

Defendant's Stand-in Twin Also Jailed
By STEPHEN THOMPSON

spthompson@tampatrib.com

Published: May 5, 2010

CLEARWATER - You know how the joke goes with identical twins: For the fun of it, they pretend to be the other on dates, in school, at parties.

It's not so funny when they try it in a courtroom, though.

That's what prosecutors say 40-year-old twins Matthew and Marcus Mauceri tried Tuesday in a Pinellas County courtroom.

Matthew was about to stand trial on a charge of scheme to defraud. He is accused of failing to pay for about $160,000 in transmission parts he bought from an Ohio company, Assistant State Attorney Evan Brodsky said.

Free on $100,000 bail since his 2007 arrest, Matthew was flying in from Indiana for the trial, but it looked like he was going to be late for its scheduled 8:30 a.m. start.

So Matthew told Marcus to pretend he was Matthew until his brother arrived, according to a transcript of the proceeding.

And Marcus did, at least for a while, prosecutors say.

"It appeared all morning long that we presumed the defendant had appeared and was ready to proceed," Brodsky said.

The person who caught on to the switch was Matthew's Tampa-based attorney, Jimmy Thomas.

Thomas suspected the person he was talking to was not Matthew because the person seemed oblivious to prior conversations about the criminal case. Thomas also knew of Matthew's twin brother because he had represented Marcus - plus, Marcus was to serve as a witness on his brother's behalf.

"I represented both of them in the past, but I hadn't seen the one that was there in a long time," Thomas said later. "The lights kind of came on for me to wonder if it was him or not."

"Had they both shown up, I would have known one from the other," he said.

As a defense attorney, he had to be careful not to do anything unethical, such as jeopardize his defense of Matthew, Thomas said.

"I didn't want someone else sitting in that defendant's seat who wasn't my client," he said. "It would have been a waste of everybody's time."

Attorneys and judges not involved in the case were consulted, Thomas said. In the end, presiding Judge Joseph Bulone, after a conversation with Thomas and Brodsky in his chambers, re-emerged in the courtroom and asked Marcus who he was.

Marcus said he was Matthew, the transcript says.

Bulone then asked him whether he would mind if his fingerprints were taken. Marcus balked, asking why that was necessary.

"I indicated to him that he had a twin brother or Matthew Mauceri had a twin brother and we wanted to make sure that the person who was actually here was, in fact, Matthew Mauceri and not Marcus Mauceri," the judge says in the record of the proceeding.

Marcus agreed to have his fingerprints taken.

They didn't match the fingerprints that were taken of Matthew Mauceri when he was arrested in 2007, the transcript says. But they did match booking fingerprints taken of Marcus Mauceri, who, according to court records, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in 1997.

It was then that Marcus identified himself. He said Matthew asked him "to stand in for him and pretend that he was Matthew until Matthew got there," the transcript said.

Bulone sentenced Marcus to 179 days in jail for contempt of court.

Matthew Mauceri eventually showed up about noon and was charged with failing to appear for trial. He, like Marcus, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail. His trial has been postponed until July.

"I think he was just trying to buy him some time," Thomas said of Marcus. "He just took it too far."

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

[Bill Schade]

The news story does not do this incident justice.

It was even funnier to those of us in the courtroom

The judge had taken a short recess and they called for a "scientist" to come to the courtroom and determine the subjects identity by fingerprints. (unfortunatly, only an expert was available)

After proceedings resumed the subject was asked to submit to fingerprinting and he agrees. One finger and 15 seconds is all it took to uncover his attempted decption. There was no cross examination or discussion of ACE-V

You have to ask yourself "What was he thinking"

[Pat A. Wertheim]

. . . they called for a "scientist" to come to the courtroom and determine the subjects identity by fingerprints. (unfortunatly, only an expert was available)"

Absolutely great, Bill. Thanks for my morning laugh!

[Ann Horsman]