Speaker 1: Now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief, exploring
Speaker 1: legal issues in the news. Today, Bloomberg Law host June
Speaker 1: Grasso discusses a split verdict in the trial of three
Speaker 1: former Namera Holdings traders who are accused of conspiring to
Speaker 1: light to clients about mortgage bond prices. She speaks to
Speaker 1: John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School. Jack, the
Speaker 1: jury acquitted the traders or deadlocked on everything but the
Speaker 1: conspiracy charges. They found Michael Grahman's guilty of conspiracy, Tyler
Speaker 1: Peter's not guilty, and they deadlocked on conspiracy. As far
Speaker 1: as Rod Shapiro, what does that show, Well, let's just
Speaker 1: underlarn how severe defeat this was in reality for the government.
Speaker 1: There were twenty seven counts. They got a conviction on
Speaker 1: one of those seven three as you said, Brahm, and
Speaker 1: twenty three were acquittals. Moreover, this case follows an earlier
Speaker 1: Connecticut case in January involving Jesse Litteck, who was also
Speaker 1: arged with ten counts of very similar kind of misconduct.
Speaker 1: And they're the jury acquitted on nine convicted on one.
Speaker 1: So it looks like the government's having a great deal
Speaker 1: of difficulty convincing the jury that there's something truly culpable here. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I think the fact that they convicted Michael Gramman's
Speaker 1: may be explained by his being the only defendant where
Speaker 1: they had a tape recording of him instructing others on
Speaker 1: how to lie to the clients. That evidence really hit
Speaker 1: the jury, whereas every other case the witnesses testifying for
Speaker 1: the government were cross examined and they had to admit
Speaker 1: they had done the same thing and looked equally bad. Oh.
Speaker 1: That I think left the jury pretty confused. Jack. Does
Speaker 1: this show that the jury didn't buy the theory that
Speaker 1: the puffing and lyne by bond traders is fraud or
Speaker 1: that the prosecutors just didn't give the jury enough evidence. Well,
Speaker 1: we'd have to interview the jurors to really answer their
Speaker 1: But do recall that in the securities fraud case, you
Speaker 1: have to prove not simply that the defendant broke a
Speaker 1: legal rule. You have to prove that he wilfully did so,
Speaker 1: that it was his deliberate intent to violate the law.
Speaker 1: And that may have looked greater, particularly in the case
Speaker 1: of the junior employees who look like they were just
Speaker 1: taking instructions from their superiors. So the wilfulness problem here
Speaker 1: it may have been the biggest obstacle because one defendant
Speaker 1: did look like he'd willfully done this, and they did
Speaker 1: convict him on at least one count. But it does
Speaker 1: look like the government has difficulty explaining why this behavior
Speaker 1: is truly criminal when the defendants keeps saying everybody was
Speaker 1: doing it. That's John Coffey, professor at Columbia Law School,
Speaker 1: speaking to Bloomberg Law host to Gressi and you can
Speaker 1: listen to Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm most three
Speaker 1: time here on Bloomberg Radio and now among the top
Speaker 1: legal stories from Bloomberg Law. The Supreme Court could say
Speaker 1: as early as today whether it will take up a
Speaker 1: high stakes fight over electoral maps. Democrats and Wisconsin of
Speaker 1: challenge their republican drawing boundaries for state legislative districts of
Speaker 1: Federal Court has struck down the districts as unconstitutional, saying
Speaker 1: they were drawn unfairly to minimize the influence of Democratic voters.
Speaker 1: Jury selection begins today in the corruption trial of Philadelphia's
Speaker 1: top prosecutor. District Attorney Seth Williams is accused of taking
Speaker 1: bribes such as a vacation trip and a sports car
Speaker 1: in exchange for legal favors. Williams has denied any wrongdoing.
Speaker 1: He has decided not to seek a third term as
Speaker 1: district Attorney, and that is this morning's Bloomberg Law Brief.
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