Cengage Advantage Books: Foundations of the Legal Environment of Business 2nd Edition by Marianne Jennings, Albert Napier, Marianne Jennings

Exercise 15

Salvatore Gravano (also known as "Sammy the Bull") and others were arrested and charged in Maricopa County, Arizona with state crimes related to distribution of MDMA, a dangerous drug known as "Ecstasy." Gravano was no stranger to the criminal justice system; in 1991, he pled guilty in New York federal court to one count of violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). That conviction resulted from Mr. Gravano's activities with the Gambino organized crime family, including murder and extortion. As a result of his plea agreement, under which he cooperated with law enforcement in the prosecution of others involved in organized crime, Gravano was sentenced to five years in prison and placed in the federal witness protection program.
Arizona brought an action to recover property from Mr. Gravano that included a request for forfeiture of all of his rights "to payment, royalties, receipt of the beneficial interest of any trust, and receipt of any benefit by any means present or future" in connection with Peter Maas's book, published by Harper Collins (UK), Inc., about Mr. Gravano's life entitled Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. Mr. Gravano argued that his Ecstasy crimes were committed after the book was published and did not pertain to his Arizona crimes and that Arizona should not collect royalties from the sale of the book. How should the court decide this case in light of the Simon Schuster decision you read about in this chapter? [Napolitano v. Gravano, 60 P.3d 246 (Az. 2002).]