Joe Tacopina Victories - Art Joe Tacopina Victories - Art Theft at Rikers, 2004Theft at Rikers, 2004

•In a truly strange example of art theft, a drawing by Salvador Dalí that had hung in the Eric M. Taylor Center of the Rikers Island prison complex mysteriously disappeared. A drawing of Christ on the cross in Dalí’s signature style, it had been dedicated to the prisoners at Rikers in 1965 and has since been valued at more than $250,000. It simply disappeared over the weekend in 2003, with a poor imitation left in its place.

•The ensuing criminal investigation found that a number of prison administrators were responsible for the theft. One, Mitchell Hochhauser, pleaded guilty and pointed at Benny Nuzzo as the mastermind. Represented by Joseph Tacopina, Nuzzo entered a plea of not guilty and fought the charges. Joe Tacopina obtained acquittal for his client, questioning tapes of his client allegedly planning the crime and persuading the jury to doubt the testimony of another officer cooperating with police. The jury required only a four-hour deliberation before returning the verdict of not guilty.