Mission

The Criminal Litigation Committee is concerned with the defense and prosecution of complex white-collar cases and regulatory enforcement matters. Substantive fields covered by the committee's jurisdiction include procurement fraud, banking offenses, tax fraud, securities offenses, environmental crimes, program fraud and forfeitures, economic crimes and official corruption, and civil and criminal RICO. Procedural areas include grand jury reform, government investigative procedures, and guideline sentencing.

The committee sponsors CLE programs and subcommittee luncheons with guest speakers, and it reviews and comments on proposed legislation. Geographic subcommittees are operating in Washington DC, St. Louis, Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, Kansas City, Seattle, Newark, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, New York City, South Florida, Baltimore, Jackson, Phoenix, Tampa, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans and Philadelphia.

 

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Announcements

Save the Date: Section Annual Conference, April 18–20, 2012

We invite you to join us for this year's Section of Litigation Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., April 18–20, 2012. The conference will be held at the J.W. Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW, which promises to be an excellent backdrop for CLE, networking, and catching up with other Section of Litigation members. For more information on programming, and for a link to the registration page, please visit the conference homepage.

March 2012 Month in Review

The latest edition of the Month in Review is now available online.

Seeking Contributors

The Criminal Litigation Committee is looking for authors for articles about criminal litigation and related cases. Contact an editor for more information.

Criminal Litigation: Winter 2011

The latest issue of the Criminal Litigation newsletter is now available.

Message from the Chairs

Galleon Group Founder Convicted on All Counts
The high-profile case against Raj Rajaratnam, founder of Galleon Group, ended in the conviction of Mr. Rajaratnam on all 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy. What has been called the biggest insider-trading case in history is notable for a number of reasons. The case was one of the first insider-trading cases in which the government made extensive use of wiretaps in its investigation and at trial. The government wiretapped 18,150 conversations over a 16-month period. Forty-five of the wiretap recordings were used at trial. Even though Mr. Rajaratnam did not testify at trial, the wiretap recordings permitted members of the jury to hear Mr. Rajaratnam engaged in numerous conversations. If the government relies on wiretaps in future white-collar prosecutions, wiretap evidence will no doubt be a significant factor in deciding whether a defendant should take the stand.

The wiretap transcripts also became an issue in the SEC’s parallel civil investigation of Mr. Rajaratnam. Prior to the criminal trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office turned over the 18,150 wiretap transcripts to Mr. Rajaratnam. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prohibited from sharing wiretap evidence with the SEC. But once the transcripts were in Mr. Rajaratnam’s possession, the SEC issued a document request seeking the transcripts—evidence the SEC admits it would not have been able to obtain directly from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The district court ordered the production of all of the wiretap transcripts and Mr. Rajaratnam appealed. In SEC v. Rajaratnam, 622 F.3d 159 (2nd Cir. 2010), the Second Circuit upheld the production of the transcripts, as long as they had been legally obtained by the government, and to the extent that they were relevant to SEC’s investigation. The Second Circuit spoke of the privacy interest of the many individuals who unknowingly had their conversations with Mr. Rajaratnam wiretapped. Though ultimately, the Second Circuit ordered the production of “relevant” wiretap transcripts, and did not apply a heightened production standard.

Criminal Litigation Newsletter Goes Electronic
We are excited to announce that future editions of the Criminal Litigation newsletter will be distributed electronically. This is the last print version to be published. As part of the electronic format you will able to view and print individual articles. You will also have the option to print the entire newsletter in PDF format, similar to the layout of the current newsletter.

Written Materials from Section Annual Conference

This year’s Section Annual Conference was a terrific success. The conference, jointly sponsored by the Section of Litigation and the Criminal Justice Section, was particularly well suited for Criminal Litigation Committee members. The sessions focused on both civil and criminal issues, and the special concerns that arise in parallel civil and criminal proceedings. If you were unable to attend the conference in person, the written materials are a terrific resource and are available separately.

Upcoming ABA Annual Meeting
The ABA Annual Meeting will be held August 4–6, 2011, in Toronto, Canada. The Section of Litigation is presenting two Presidential Showcase Programs: “Trial Practice and Tactics in Canada and the United States” and “Implicit Bias and the Myth of Equal Justice.”

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien will be the featured speaker at the International Human Rights Award and Passing of the Gavel Luncheon. The Section’s International Human Rights Award will be presented to Hon. Louise Arbour, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Please remember that you will need a valid passport to travel to Canada for the Annual Meeting.

Stacey F. Gottlieb

Kenneth C. Pickering

D. Grayson Yeargin

Chairs, Criminal Litigation Committee