Federal charges dropped in stock manipulation case; wiretap evidence unusable
Source: Los Angeles Times
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles dismissed criminal charges against nine people in a $30-million stock-manipulation case after concluding that misstatements in obtaining court approval for key wiretap recordings made the evidence unusable at trial.
The dismissals were an embarrassing setback for prosecutors who were bursting with pride last year when they announced the indictments, the result of a three-year investigation.
... On Tuesday, prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges against Sherman Mazur and eight other defendants, concluding that the wiretap evidence was not admissible because of "omissions and misstatements" in an application to record the suspects' telephone calls.
It is extremely rare for a criminal case to break down because of problems with a wiretap application, said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fraud-dismissal-20140326,0,3849413.story
