Qwest ex-CEO Nacchio wins a new trial
Defence expert witness barred
THE FORMER CEO of western US telecom giant Qwest, Joseph Nacchio, has been granted a new trial on insider trading charges by a federal appeals court, The Associated Press reports.
The case has attracted more interest than your run-of-the-mill insider trading prosecution due to rampant speculation that Nacchio was targeted by the Bush administration as retribution for Qwest's refusal to collaborate with the NSA in a massive programme of illegal, warrantless wiretapping started in early 2001.
Nacchio was convicted by a jury in April 2007 on 19 counts of insider trading related to his 2001 sales of $52 million in Qwest stock. He was acquitted on 23 other counts. US District Court Judge Edward Nottingham sentenced Nacchio to six years in prison but he has remained free during appeal.
The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Judge Nottingham improperly prevented defence expert witness Daniel Fischel from testifying. It rejected the appeal arguments that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence for conviction and that the trial judge's jury instructions were deficient.
The appeals court also directed that another judge be assigned for any retrial, writing "it would be unreasonably difficult to expect this judge (Nottingham) to retry the case with a fresh mind."
So that ruling had nothing to do with the fact that Judge Nottingham was outed by his wife as an alleged customer of a Denver area prostitution ring then. µ
L'Inq
Wired
Comments
get your facts straight
"Nacchio was targeted by the Bush administration as retribution for Qwest's refusal to collaborate with the NSA in a massive programme of illegal, warrantless wiretapping started in early 2001."What a bunch of factless biased rubbish.
I normally enjoy reading your articles ... but thay also normally have a little more truth to them.
Read the constitution, read the patriot act before deciding what is and isnt legal.
In times of war there is a different set of guidlines, none of those have been broken.
As it is not many of the extra rights of the government have been used.
Also the patriot act allows Legal wiretappings without warrent from a judge.
There is other ways of checks without going through a judge... when dealing with National security going through a judge in order to find out of terrorist dealings is stupid.
You should know better than to think that there are not terrorist embedded in each of our countries, the London bus bombs were from insiders.
BUSH
Of course there are terrorist in the US. You need look no further then White House. The BUSH family is responseable for more American deaths directly or indirectly then any others is all American history. Start with Prescott Bush who is indirectly responceable for more then 280,000+ american deaths. Prescott financed Hilter and helped start WW2 (convicted of doing business with the enemy in 1942), G.W.Bush Sr started Desert Storm and G.W.Bush Jr started what we are in now with no end in site. How many Americans deaths does that total. I wouldnt put anything past what the Bush family would or could do. Learn your history America and wake up!!!Bryan, Bryan...poor Bryan..
You might want to read up on a few things...Like the War Powers Act, The U.S.A. Patriot Act and The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for starters.
Even with all three of these considered, it is still legally questionable as to whether the NSA was within it's legal mandate to effectively wiretap everyone in the United States without prior consent.
The reason why Qwest was able to get away with saying "no", is because they were within their legal rights to say "no". Federal privacy laws are in clear conflict with the situation, especially and primarily because of the vagaries of what constitutes "war powers", something the '73 War Powers Act did little to clarify.
Whether this has any bearing on Nacchio's case? Who knows. Maybe you believe that the government should be able to do whatever it takes to make us safe from the borderless terrorist. But what keeps us safe from the government?
What war?
Bryan,two points you may want to consider:
1. Fourth Amendment remains in effect even in the times of war and no statute can trump it.
2. In early 2001 there was no "war".
No, you get YOUR facts straight
"In times of war there is a different set of guidlines, none of those have been broken. "Says who, you?
Like you said, read the Constitution. It is the highest law of the land.
The only thing that can override the Constitution is an amendment to it, period. Your 'Patriot Act' doesn't cut it. GW's 'executive orders' don't cut it. Get it? Good.
Now that that's settled, I have some more reading for you, the Fourth Amendment. It's pretty clear:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
If that's not clear enough for you, in 1972 the Supreme Court declared that communications interception such as wiretapping was unconstitutional. The FISA law of 1978 established a separate court to allow us more leeway to conduct "foreign intelligence" surveillance, and still remain within the bounds of the Constitution.
Now Bush wants to do an end-run around even this provision and pretty much eliminate whatever much watered-down judicial oversight may remain.
You are right
Don't let stupid comments by ignorant Yankees bother you. You were right, the Bush Administration broke our laws and Naccio refused to break the law and is now being punished for it. The so-called "Patriot Act" does not allow for warrant-less wiretaps -- that's what FISA was setup for. But of course Bush is above the law (you thought only English and French kings claimed that privilege? HA!).-- A Freedom-loving Yankee