judge tosses out overseas bribery case
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Doyle, Jim. San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext) [San Francisco, Cali f] 20 Mar 1991: B6.
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A federal judge yesterday halted a trial and threw out a bribery case against two Bay Area telecommunications
executives who were charged with conspiring to pay off Colombian officials in exchange for contracts. The abrupt
dismissal, which came after a 12-member jury heard two weeks of testimony by prosecution witnesses against
the telephone executives for Harris Corp. in Novato, was a stunning defeat for the Justice Department. It is
extremely rare for federal judges to exercise their option at mid-trial of preventing a case from going to the jury.
Shortly after the government rested its case, U.S.
A federal judge yesterday halted a trial and threw out a bribery case against two Bay Area telecommunications
executives who were charged with conspiring to pay off Colombian officials in exchange for contracts. The abrupt
dismissal, which came after a 12-member jury heard two weeks of testimony by prosecution witnesses against
the telephone executives for Harris Corp. in Novato, was a stunning defeat for the Justice Department. It is
extremely rare for federal judges to exercise their option at mid-trial of preventing a case from going to the jury.
Shortly after the government rested its case, U.S. District Judge Charles Legge of San Francisco ruled from the
bench that ""no reasonable jury" could convict the company nor its executives on any of the five bribery-related
counts for which they were indicted. Citing insufficient evidence, Legge said the government had failed to show
any intent by the defendants to enter into a criminal conspiracy. Legge also said it was the first time in his six
years on the federal bench that he had dismissed a criminal case at mid-trial for lack of evidence. The acquittal
also reinforced the Justice Department's poor track record of prosecutions in overseas bribery cases. Federal
prosecutors have won only two dozen convictions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 since the law
was adopted more than a decade ago. ""We're very pleased that our digital telephone systems division and its
employees have been vindicated, but we believe the charges should never have been brought in the first place,"John T. Hartley, the company's chairman, said in a written statement. ""The Justice Department's case was based
upon a distorted view of the facts," he said, adding that taxpayers would bear the government's costs and that
Harris Corp. incurred more than $3 million in legal fees. ""The case has also placed a heavy strain on our two
employees named in the indictment." Prosecutor Scott MacKay said the government brought the case in good
faith: ""We're disappointed with the judge's ruling. We feel that we presented a good case, but we accept the
judge's ruling." In the trial, MacKay told the jury that Harris Corp. and two of its executives, John B. Iacobucci and
Ronald L. Schultz, conspired to pay a Colombian congressman a percentage of any contracts obtained, and to pay
off officials at Colombia's state-run telephone company.
Copyright Chronicle Publishing Company Mar 20, 1991
Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case: [FINAL Edition] - Print docume... http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/docprintview/302651
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Title: Judge Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case: [FINAL Edition]
Author: Doyle, Jim
Publication title: San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext)
Pages: B6
Number of pages: 0
Publication year: 1991
Publication date: Mar 20, 1991
Year: 1991
Section: NEWS
Publisher: San Francisco Chronicle, a division of Hearst Communications
Inc.
Place of publication: San Francisco, Calif.
Country of publication: United States
Journal subject: General Interest Periodicals--United States
Source type: Newspapers
Language of publication: English
Document type: NEWSPAPERProQuest document ID: 302651561
Document URL: http://ezproxy.sfpl.org/login?url=http:
//search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/docview
/302651561?accountid=35117
Copyright: Copyright Chronicle Publishing Company Mar 20, 1991
Last updated: 2010-08-27
Database: ProQuest Newsstand
Copyright 2012 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions
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Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case: [FINAL Edition] - Print docume... http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/docprintview/302651
6/18/2012