Legal News

Prosecution Denied Again; Madoff to Remain Free

By Dan Slater

The second time was not a charm for Bernard Madoff’s prosecutors. This afternoon, U.S. District Judge Lawrence M. McKenna denied another bid to jail Madoff pending trial.

Here’s the WSJ report, and here’s a Law Blog post from yesterday explaining some of the legal reasoning for denying the prosecution’s request.

The judge said that prosecutors failed to make a compelling argument that he’s a flight risk or a danger to the community — the two main requirements for bail decisions.

In a brief filed Wednesday, Ira Lee Sorkin, one of Madoff’s lawyers, urged Judge McKenna to reject the appeal. “The government’s argument against release rests solely on the claim that Mr. and Mrs. Madoff’s honest mistake in gifting certain items of jewelry and watches to their family and closest friends constitutes a change in circumstances warranting incarceration,” Sorkin said in his filing. “In fact, the only changed circumstance here is the government’s cynical decision to backtrack on its agreement with Mr. Madoff regarding the terms of his bail.”

Sorkin said Madoff mailed the items in an “awkward attempt to reconnect with his estranged children,” and in an attempt by Madoff and his wife to reach out to family members and close friends. “In doing so, Mr. Madoff made an isolated mistake, which he realized after speaking with counsel, and which he promptly rectified with counsel’s assistance by recalling all the gifted items,” Sorkin said.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 14, 2009 (boomark / email).