Finally, the Levy files contain any number of typewritten briefs, memos, and lengthy analyses of the facts and law applicable to the case.  An example of these is what appears to be a typewritten and annotated draft of Levy’s final argument, or at least an explication of themes – “General Comments,” in his words – that might be used in closing argument.

To view Levy’s General Comments about the Luciano case, see below.

What makes the Levy files noteworthy beyond their obvious value as historical documents is the fact that nearly all that is publicly known about the Luciano vice trial (besides the black-letter of the trial and appellate transcripts) comes to us either through contemporaneous press reports – which were themselves heavily influenced by the special prosecutor’s office – or through the filter of the prosecution’s own records and files maintained by the New York City Department of Records.  The Levy files offer the first behind-the-scenes glimpse at the other side of the case and provide, for the first time in history, an opportunity to view the Luciano trial in its totality.

It was from this vantage that Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo), my novelization of the Luciano vice trial and its antecedents, was written.