While the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit found
that there had been sufficient evidence to convict him, it ruled
that Judge Richard Owen had not instructed the jury properly.
In particular, wrote the Appeals Court, “Under the charge, the
jury was allowed to convict Quattrone of obstruction regardless of
whether he intended such.”
Effectively, the jury had not been told to consider whether
Quattrone had actually intended to obstruct the investigation
before finding him guilty. As a result, the conviction had to be
quashed. The Court has remanded the case for a retrial before a
different judge.
The case dates back to December 2000, when Quattrone sent an
email that allegedly urged colleagues to "clean up" their
files.
Quattrone and his former firm Credit Suisse First Boston
(CSFB) promoted and arranged Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
for many technology companies in the late 1990s.
According to regulators, Quattrone personally earned $200
million from mid-1998 to late-2001. But in mid-2000, investigations
began on allegations that CSFB had improperly shared IPO profits
with clients.
The only criminal charges to come out of the investigations were
those against Quattrone. He was accused of sending an email on 5th
December 2000 urging colleagues to "clean up those files" – after
learning that regulators were beginning an investigation.
A first prosecution against Quattrone failed in October 2003
when a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict after six days
of deliberations. He was eventually convicted in May 2004.
Quattrone was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but has remained
free pending his appeal.
"For over three years during this difficult ordeal, I have held
my head high knowing I was innocent and never intended to obstruct
justice,” he said yesterday.
