In an unusual move, a federal judge in Miami terminated jury deliberations and acquitted two former employees of Stanford Financial Group, who were accused of destroying evidence of Stanford's alleged Ponzi scheme. Former Stanford Global Security Chief Thomas Raffanello and Technology Officer Bruce Perraud were accused of illegally shredding thousands of documents. Raffanello, longtime head of Miami's U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Office, and Perraud faced up to 50 years in prison if they had been convicted.
The jury sent a note to visiting Judge Richard Goldberg during jury deliberations asking for guidance on what constituted intent to thwart the Securities and Exchange Commission as it looked into Stanford's business dealings. Goldberg ended jury deliberations and issued a directed verdict finding that the evidence was unable to support a conviction. The judge visiting from the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York likely re-examined the evidence and realized the case should have never gone to the jury. The defense had argued that shredding of the documents had no impact as the investigators had all the documents on a computer server.
Legal experts commenting on the case suggested that this was a highly unusual move. The defense attorney who represented Perraud said, "The judge has a constitutional responsibility not to have a case that is insufficient on the evidence go to the jury." Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Fitzpatrick, the Washington based lead prosecutor, asked the court to allow the jury to continue to deliberate knowing that the prosecution could not appeal a judge's acquittal. Commenting on the decision, Fitzpatrick said, "We're disappointed, but we respect the judge's ruling."
Goldberg indicated that the defense had not done anything wrong in its handling of the case but merely had a weak case. Goldberg said that prosecutors "did their best with what they had to work with." Rafanello's lead attorney said that after the decision he could tell that Goldberg was bothered by the trial from the beginning. "Thank God for the mercy, justice and wisdom of Judge Goldberg," he said.
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