Broadcom jurors told of prosecutor’s misconduct
U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney recently informed the Jury of a prosecutor’s, Andrew Stopler, committed misconduct which resulted in the granting of full immunity to Broadcom Corp. former general counsel and accused co-conspirator: David Dull.
Such misconduct included Stopler making inappropriate remarks to Dull’s lawyers when he stated that Dull could face perjury charges if his testimony was similar to that given in a deposition to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Carney held a hearing expressing concern that it sounded as if Stopler was trying to negotiate with Dull’s lawyers. When Dull was granted full immunity from prosecution, prosecution even acknowledged that Stopler’s phone call limited their ability to bring criminal charges against Dull.
Judge Carney also ordered that Stopler refrain from conferring with other government lawyers during the testimony of another Broadcom executive, Henry Samueli, who was awaiting sentencing for one count of lying to the SEC. Samueli was also given judicial immunity earlier this week.
William Ruehle is accused of engaging in an options backdating scheme, which inflated Broadcom’s earnings by 2.2 billion, and is accused of profiting $77 billion. Ruehle’s attorney claims Ruehle did not commit any crimes and that backdating is in fact a common accounting mistake made by executives at about 200 companies.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A federal judge informed a jury in the criminal fraud trial of former Broadcom Corp. executive William J. Ruehle on Thursday that a prosecutor committed misconduct, resulting in the granting of full immunity to an accused co-conspirator in the case.
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney told jurors that Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Stolper made “several inappropriate remarks” during a conversation with lawyers for Broadcom ’s former general counsel, David Dull, who took the witness stand Thursday.
The instance of prosecutorial misconduct, Carney found, occurred after Dull was given partial immunity Monday in order to have him testify as a defense witness.
As a juror, I would feel such a let down and disappointment in my government if they could sit there and lie to our faces.
Well they did lie. And it turns out they do this often. The prosecutors will do ANYTHING for a win and it is wrong.
This just angers me. Aren’t lawyers/prosecutors, especially the government’s, supposed to take some sort of oath? As a witness you have to, why do the prosecutors get to lie?
“backdating is in fact a common accounting mistake made by executives at about 200 companies.” So the government went after Broadcom (which the trial was dismissed), they are going after Brocade now (which the first trial was dismissed and in my opinion the 2nd one is a waste of time and money), so next on their list is the 198+ other Silicon Valley companies… This is a which hunt.
I think the jurors need to be aware of the misconduct that goes on with the prosecutors in the court room… They need to know the government is lying to them and therefor these companies are in fact not criminals.