11:23 AM EST on Friday, December 10, 2004

They'll always have Paris.

Martin Murphy, one of the lawyers for Channel 10 reporter Jim Taricani, yesterday noted that Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres last month had mentioned a trip Taricani and his wife, Laurie White, took to Paris earlier this year.

Torres had raised the trip in the context of whether Taricani's health would be jeopardized if he were placed in a federal medical detention center such as the one in Fort Devens, Mass.

Murphy said the trip was authorized by Taricani's doctors and that Taricani made sure he maintained "special sanitary conditions" during the trip.

"I have not been to Paris, but I have been to Fort Devens," Murphy told the judge. "And at least from the pictures I've seen, I don't think the two are comparable."

THE COURTROOM was so packed yesterday that, at first, there wasn't even a seat for Joseph A. Bevilacqua Jr. Eventually, he squeezed into a front-row seat near a sign that said "press seating."

"You have the dubious distinction of sitting next to me," Bevilacqua cracked to a reporter.

Looking back over his shoulder, Bevilacqua noticed other lawyers who had represented defendants in the Plunder Dome corruption probe. "My colleagues are here," he said.

It was reported last week that Bevilacqua had gone to Florida after admitting he was the source of a secret FBI videotape. Yesterday, Bevilacqua said the Florida trip was a long-planned vacation and that he had visited his son, who attends Florida Atlantic University.

Bevilacqua didn't stay in the press seat for long. Before the proceedings began, he moved back a row to sit next to his lawyer, Thomas A. Tarro III, and when Taricani took the witness stand, the judge asked Bevilacqua to leave the courtroom until it was his turn to testify.

YESTERDAY'S HEARING brought back memories of the corruption trial of former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., from the familiar faces of defense lawyers to the battery of television news trucks and out-of-town reporters outside and inside the courthouse.

Among the defense lawyers attending were John A. "Terry" MacFadyen III, a member of the Cianci defense team; C. Leonard O'Brien, who represented Frank E. Corrente; Richard C. Bicki, who defended Richard E. Autiello; former Rhode Island Attorney General James E. O'Neil, who represented David C. Ead; and Kevin Bristow, who represented Rosemary Glancy.

Several members of Joseph Bevilacqua's family also attended, including his wife, Donna; two of his children; his brother, John Bevilacqua, a former Senate majority leader; and his sister, Angelica Gosz. Bevilacqua's brother and sister, who are also lawyers, were assisting in his defense.

AS JUDGMENT DAY neared for Taricani, observers repeatedly invoked the precedent of Richard Rose, the federal prosecutor who received a $500 fine and a 30-day suspension from the case for showing the same Plunder Dome tape to his sister and two friends.

Rose had violated the same court order as Bevilacqua and Taricani.

When Taricani's lawyer mentioned Rose yesterday, Judge Torres said, "In hindsight, I would agree that I was too lenient." In punishing Rose, the judge added, he had "assumed" that Rose would also be disciplined by his superiors at the U.S. Department of Justice.

"I haven't seen any evidence that they did," said Torres.

The judge went on, however, to draw a distinction between the conduct of Rose and Taricani.

"I won't offer excuses, but I was swayed by the belief that Mr. Rose's actions were a spur-of-the-moment lapse, in front of a few friends to show off," said Torres.

Unlike Taricani's actions, the judge said, Rose's actions did not result in the tape's public airing and jeopardize Frank Corrente's right to a fair trial.

MARY KNUST stood in front of the federal courthouse yesterday holding a placard that read "Persecuted Free Press Equals Police State."

Knust, who lives in Griswold, Conn., and has two children who live in Providence, said she has been watching Channel 10 news for about eight years and had come downtown yesterday to support Taricani.

"I just wanted him to understand I think he is very brave and courageous," Knust said. "We need people like him. One of the pillars of our society is having a free press."

Knust said she decided to come after reading an editorial in the Norwich Bulletin. "I was horrified," she said. "Reporters should not have to give up their sources under any circumstances. A lot of people would give information to a reporter before they'd give it to police because they'd have anonymity in talking to a reporter."

Knust said a Brown University freshman saw her on television news yesterday morning and later joined her in front of the courthouse. "He said he had to come down to stand with me," she said.

-- By Tracy Breton, Edward Fitzpatrick and Mike Stanton, Journal Staff Writers

CORRECTION: The first name of Angelica Gosz was incorrect in a previous version of this report.