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Federal Judge in the Broadcom Case Cites Prosecutorial Misconduct as One of the Grounds for Dismissing Criminal Charges

By Walin & Klarich

Many in the legal community was stunned on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, when a U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney acquitted former Broadcom chief financial officer William J. Ruehle, and dismissed charges of fraud and backdating stock options against former Broadcom CEO Henry T. Nicholas. In citing grounds for dismissal, the judge listed prosecutorial misconduct and lack of evidence as two primary reasons for his decision. This case is noteworthy because the judge?s decision to dismiss the case in its entirety rather than let it proceed to the jury on the prosecutorial misconduct ground is a very rare exercise of judicial authority. This ruling is especially surprising to some as it came in a high profile case where the federal government had been collecting evidence of alleged backdating of the Broadcom?s stock options for almost two years...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).