Joseph Enea got in a bar fight early Sunday, November 23, 1969 while tending bar at the Scene (624 North 2nd). Also involved were Reginald Oitzinger, 25, and Walter Ellis, 20. The two patrons previously brought in a 17-year old boy on Wednesday who was served beer, and when found loitering by police later was caught with marijuana. When the men returned Saturday night, Enea asked them to testify in the case against the youth and they refused. Enea slapped one man in the face and gave another a black eye, and was charged on November 24 with two counts of battery. Enea appeared in court three times on Monday for the charges —first with attorney Dominic Frinzi before Magistrate Herbert Schultz, where District Attorney E. Michael McCann said, “These people have said they are in fear of their lives. Justice should not be frustrated by fear and terror in Milwaukee County.” That afternoon, he returned before Schultz with attorney Roland Steinle after Oitzinger and Ellis reluctantly signed affidavits. Finally, during arraignment in front of Judge Christ Seraphim with attorney Joseph Balistrieri. Enea was released without bond and told to return December 12.
On November 28, 1969, fourteen agents (ten from the state Attorney General’s office) participated in a raid on the Scene.
On December 12, 1969, District Attorney E. Michael McCann filed more charges against Bals, Inc and the Scene —serving an underage woman (20) a Tom Collins and two beers, failure to keep invoices for two years, and failure to deface tax stamps on empty liquor bottles. These charges stemmed from an inspection on November 28.
December 18, 1969: While leaving a licensing committee meeting, Peter Balistrieri was almost served a summons for allowing over 50 minors to loiter at his nightclub, the Scene. Balistrieri refused to take it. His attorney, Nathan Ruppa, briefly touched it, but then let it fall to the floor. The sheriff said as far as he was concerned, that meant it was served.
December 19, 1969: Peter Balistrieri, Joseph Balistrieri (his son) and Jennie Alioto were arrested and charged with 37 counts of filing false state sales tax reports between 1966 and 1969. They alleged Bals, Inc had taxable sales of $500,900 but only reported $196,000, based o na report from tax agent Donald Murphy. Attorney General Robert Warren released the statement, “I think you can sense we are moving from one level (of pressure) to another.” The trial was to be held in Madison, in Judge Buenzli’s court, with the initial appearance set for December 30 to give defense attorneys Dominic Frinzi and Donald Eisenberg time to look over the complaint.
December 30, 1969: Attorney Donald Eisenberg asked federal judge James Doyle for a restraining order and a halt to any court proceedings, asking AG Robert Warren to stop harassing his clients. He claimed they were singled out and treated unfairly, as part of a “newspaper vendetta” and as part of Warren’s “campaign for governor.” Warren was using “storm trooper tactics such as those used in Nazi Germany,” Eisenberg added, noting that Peter Balistrieri had not been convicted of a crime in 40 years. State attorney Peter Peshek said this would be a “drastic remedy” and told the judge, “They want us to be handcuffed. What constitutional right did Bals Inc have to violate the corporate laws of Wisconsin?” Doyle denied the restraining order. The Bals, Inc trial was scheduled for this day but was pushed back a week when it was asked whether the defendants needed to be there in person, or merely needed to have an attorney present (under the idea that it would be inconvenient to drive back and forth from Milwaukee and Madison).
January 2, 1970: Judge Donald Eisenberg filed a motion to dismiss the 37 counts against his clients, saying the complaints were defective because they did not identify the source on which its information was based.
January 6, 1970: Judge Ervin M Bruner refused to dismiss 37 counts of a state tax fraud case against Bals, Inc. Numerous false documents were filed between November 1966 and March 1969 (allegedly). Assistant attorney general Allan Hubbard said a $21,000 lien in back taxes was filed based on $400,000 of unreported income, and defense attorney Donald Eisenberg was defiant and refused to enter pleas for his client. The judge set the plea to not guilty. Eisenberg also asked that “all documents” that had previously been seized be returned in order to be used by the defense. Trial was set for March 16 before Judge Michael Torphy.
A meeting was held at the Scene on February 8, 1970 and Joseph Enea was given authority over the personnel there. He was explicitly cautioned to be more careful with employees and avoid physical force.
Attorney General Robert Warren filed a lawsuit forcing The Scene to keep minors out on February 26, 1970. Judge William O’Neill ordered the club closed and gave the operators until Monday morning to show why a restraining order should not be issued. The lawsuit targeted Bals, Inc and named Peter F. Balistrieri, his wife Mary and his son Joseph. The papers also named Joseph Enea and John Rizzo as keepers of the premises. District Attorney E. Michael McCann filed a summons the same day against 44 minors who were said to be caught loitering at the Scene. Peter Balistrieri counter-sued for $200,000 saying that when Warren and his men raided the building on November 28, they did not have warrants and forced over 100 customers out. The raid allegedly caused financial loss and humiliation. Representing Balistrieri was Madison attorney Donald S. Eisenberg.
The Cheaters wrapped up their six-week stint at the Scene on March 1, 1970. The FBI described them as “a Negro band operating in the Milwaukee area”. Their next stops were in Southern Wisconsin and Iowa.
June 20, 1970: Bals, Inc guilty of 30 counts of letting minors hang around.
July 20, 1970: Federal judge James Doyle refused to toss the Balistrieri/Scene lawsuit against Warren for $200,000. It was argued that the raid was done in a “quasi-judicial” way and was therefore immune, but Doyle rejected that.
By this point, another Balistrieri tavern, the Kings IV, was getting aggressively dogged by Robert Warren. Their license was revoked, but license holder Peter Gaudesi continued to operate and filed a restraining order against the attorney general, saying agents had accessed locked areas of the building without a search warrant. (Gaudesi did not deny that inspectors can show up at any time, but argued they could only inspect public areas.) Perhaps we’ll cover this separately – it’s related, but would make this story more complicated to mix it in here.
October 12, 1970: Robert Warren was granted a delay on giving a deposition in the $200,000 lawsuit against him by the Balistrieris until after the November election. Judge James Doyle accepted their argument that Warren had “prior commitments for all his time” until the election. The re was also the claim that taking the deposition before the election would “cause unnecessary hardship and embarrassment” Doyle noted that the lawsuit was for damages and not an injunction, so postponing the depositions a few weeks – without changing a trial date – would not harm the Balistrieri camp.
October 16, 1970: A tax lien of $728 was filed against the Scene for employee withholding taxes.
November 25, 1970: Joseph Balistrieri and Jennie Alioto filed a motion to have their trial separate in the case against Bals Inc (The Scene). Judge Michael Torphy said he would take it under advisement.
December 15, 1970: As part of his $200,000 lawsuit against Robert Warren, Peter Balistrieri testified that a state raid in November 1969 ruined business at the Scene. He claimed the business took in $11,500 in November, but then only $2,500 in December. Balistrieri said the raid was “maliciously instituted” with the purpose of trying to “close up the place.” They were successful, because the Scene was closed “for most of 1970, except for a few wedding parties.”
On December 17, 1970, Peter Balistrieri’s attorney, Donald Eisenberg, created a scene when he took the stenographer’s machine away from him. “Let the record show that I just took the machine,” he said. He then yelled at Assistant Attorney General Sverre Tinglum, “You can do anything you want but I don’t consider it part of my proceedings.” A few minutes later, he walked out of the room with the machine and the stenographer behind him. Balistrieri had sued Attorney General Robert Warren for $200,000, saying a raid on the Scene had completely destroyed its business. What had sparked Eisenberg’s outburst? A line of questioning connecting Herb Krusche with the Balistrieri brothers and a duck hunting trip they took in 1956 or 1957.
December 18, 1970: Richard Record, under the name PK Powers, broadcast a story about Donald Eisenberg on WISM radio. What he said exactly is unclear, but it was something to the effect that Eisenberg “lost his temper” and took the stenographer’s machine out of the courtroom. Eisenberg said the report was untrue, malicious and humiliating, and sued WISM for $100,000. (Which part was untrue?)
Two former waitresses, Roberta Jones and Marsha Ustruck, testified on February 5, 1971 that they were harassed by state agents while working at the Scene. Both said Agent Walter Younk had visited them at home, asked intrusive questions, and “snooped” around in Jones’ bedroom. Ustruck said she was asked questions about people she did not know and Younk became upset when she could not answer. He allegedly said, “You know if you’re lying, you’ll be subpoenaed.” Ustruck testified, “I never worked anywhere where I had people questioning me. I felt like a criminal.” Both women testified that after the November raid, business dropped by as much as half or more. Joseph Enea testified that Younk and his boss Krusche “are very rude people. They have a tendency not to talk in a gentlemanly way. They blow their tops.” Donald Eisenberg, attorney for the witnesses, referred to the agents’ methods as “Gestapo tactics” and and assistant attorney general Svere Tinglum told him to “cool it.”
April 1, 1971: In the Balistrieri v Warren case, the state asked the three bar owners to subject to handwriting analysis. Defense attorney Eisenberg objected, calling this a violation of rights (self-incrimination?). The state also asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds the state could not be sued, and this was rejected immediately. Judge Michael Torphy rejected the handwriting objection on April 12 and told the Balistrieris to submit to the exam on April 19. They refused and appealed to the state supreme court. That court upheld Torphy’s order for samples and they were given the option to provide them or spend six months in jail for contempt. They chose to submit samples on May 14.
On June 4, 1971, Jennie Alioto testified about her long business relationship with the Balistrieri family, having worked as a self-taught bookkeeper for many of their businesses: Hotel Roosevelt, Club 26, Ben-Kay, City Wide Amusement, Milwaukee Tradewinds, Midwest Scrap Metal and others. She said any mistakes he made were just that —mistakes —and not willful or intentional attempts to avoid paying taxes. She claimed to have spoken with a state employee at the Sales and Use Tax Department who told her she did not have to report admissions, hat check fees or washroom tips. She said that it was possible she hit the wrong button on the adding machine, and she threw away the machine’s tape after copying over the numbers in a ledger. She stressed that the tape was “thrown away” but not “destroyed.”
On June 5, 1971, Peter Balistrieri and Jennie Alioto were found guilty in state court of evading taxes. The Madison jury found that Bals, Inc. had taxable sales of $500,939 but had only reported $191,853. This was a loss of $12,500 in sales tax due to the state. Defense attorney Donald Eisenberg had argued, “I don’t think the evidence shows a pattern of consistent fraud. It shows a pattern of consistent honesty.” His defense strategy amounted to the idea that this was a”mistake” and not “fraud,” which would have been intentional. Prosecutor Andrew Somers was unforgiving, and especially targeted bookkeeper Alioto, noting, “She had attorneys all over the
place. She had accountants. She had a lot more advice than the usual businessman has available.” The convicted were given until June 23 to file any motions.
The ongoing fight between Robert Warren and the Balistrieri family will be picked up in another episode (next time?) but this stage of the fight saw Warren as a clear winner – the Scene ceased to exist.