Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"Shameful" Campaign Leads to More Dismissals in California

As we reported on Monday, the Rove Republican Racket was given a huge setback when a federal judge in the bastion of Republican politics, Orange County, California, dismissed charged and vacated a guilty plea of Henry Samueli, a technology company executive and owner of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team.


Federal prosecutors were accused of prosecutorial misconduct which including leaking grand jury testimony and intimidating plaintiffs in regards to the case against technology firm, Broadcom.

Now two more Broadcom executives who worked with Samueli saw criminal charges against them tossed out yesterday.

The Los Angeles Times reports today:
Accusing prosecutors of a "shameful" campaign to intimidate witnesses and obtain unjustified convictions, a federal judge threw out high-profile criminal stock fraud charges against Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III and the company's former chief financial officer. U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney issued his ruling Tuesday, less than a week after he overturned a guilty plea by company co-founder and Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli
The judge also dismissed a civil lawsuit that the Securities and Exchange Commission had filed against Broadcom executives, wiping away misconduct allegations that had plagued the Irvine-based microchip giant for years. Samueli and Nicholas, both in the Santa Ana courtroom, embraced and sobbed. William J. Ruehle, the chief financial officer, thanked Carney and then hugged his attorney, Richard Marmaro. "It's the ultimate vindication for Broadcom," Samueli told reporters outside Carney's courtroom. "To see Broadcom's name smeared was so painful to me."