Judge launches scathing attack on government prosecutors for litany of actions amounting to misconduct
LONDON (TrustLaw) – The first corporation to go to trial by jury for violating U.S. foreign bribery laws had its conviction overturned on appeal on Thursday, with the judge delivering a scathing rebuke to prosecutors about their actions both in the investigation and during the trial itself.
U.S. District Judge Howard Matz dismissed the convictions of California-based power equipment company Lindsey Manufacturing and two of the company’s executives, Keith Lindsey and Steve Lee, citing prosecutorial misconduct, throwing out the original indictment brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
“Within the period beginning in 2008 and continuing at least through June 27, 2011, the government team committed many wrongful acts. It should not be permitted to escape the consequences of that conduct,” Matz wrote in dismissing the indictments.
A federal jury convicted Lindsey Manufacturing Co, Keith Lindsey and Steve Lee in May on multiple FCPA charges for bribing officials of a Mexican state-owned utility company to win $19 million in contracts. Another defendant, Angela Aguilar struck a deal with prosecutors in June and was sentenced to nine months, time she had already served.
The case was significant because corporations charged under the FCPA usually settle or plead guilty, but Lindsey Manufacturing chose to contest the charges.
Matz listed a litany of actions by U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors that he said amounted to prosecutorial misconduct including allowing a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent to testify untruthfully before a grand jury, inserting “material falsehoods” into applications for search warrants and improperly reviewing email between a defendant and her lawyer.
"This is a great day for Keith Lindsey and Steve Lee. They never once wavered in their belief of their innocence," The Los Angeles Times newspaper quoted Jan Handzlik, defence attorney for the executives as saying.
According to media report, the U.S. government is appealing the ruling.
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