Could the third time be the charm for former Credit Suisse First
Boston investment banking star, Frank Quattrone? A federal appeals court
raised that possibility this week when it tossed out Quattrone’s 2004
conviction on obstruction of justice charges. His first trial, in 2003,
ended with a divided jury.
In a unanimous ruling, a federal appellate panel ruled that jury instructions were “flawed,” and chided Judge Richard Owen, who presided over the Quattrone trial, for making comments which went “beyond mere impatience or annoyance with the defense.”
Quattrone gained prominence as a leading rainmaker for mega-Internet IPOs. The government’s charges against him arose out of an investigation into the allocation of IPO shares during the red-hot IPO bubble of the 1990s. In December 2000, Quattrone, while regulators were investigating possible IPO irregularities, Quattrone circulated an e-mail reminding colleagues to clean up their files. Prosecutors claim that he did so to obstruct their investigation.
The flawed jury instructions permitted jurors to find the investment banker guilty without first determining whether he knew he was obstructing a federal investigation.
Prosecutors have not indicated whether they plan to bring Quattrone to trial a third time.
About Hartley Bernstein: Hartley Bernstein is a corporate and securities attorney and civil litigator with a specialty in business transactions and civil litigation.
In a unanimous ruling, a federal appellate panel ruled that jury instructions were “flawed,” and chided Judge Richard Owen, who presided over the Quattrone trial, for making comments which went “beyond mere impatience or annoyance with the defense.”
Quattrone gained prominence as a leading rainmaker for mega-Internet IPOs. The government’s charges against him arose out of an investigation into the allocation of IPO shares during the red-hot IPO bubble of the 1990s. In December 2000, Quattrone, while regulators were investigating possible IPO irregularities, Quattrone circulated an e-mail reminding colleagues to clean up their files. Prosecutors claim that he did so to obstruct their investigation.
The flawed jury instructions permitted jurors to find the investment banker guilty without first determining whether he knew he was obstructing a federal investigation.
Prosecutors have not indicated whether they plan to bring Quattrone to trial a third time.
About Hartley Bernstein: Hartley Bernstein is a corporate and securities attorney and civil litigator with a specialty in business transactions and civil litigation.
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