Raj Rajaratnam’s Day In Court

  • 09 Mar 2011 at 1:11 PM

Will A Female-Heavy Jury Work In Raj Rajaratnam’s Favor?

By

Jury selection for the trial of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam has been officially completed and opening statements will be heard this afternoon. The details on the final group are scant, but here’s what’s known: Continue reading »

  • 08 Mar 2011 at 4:54 PM

Rajaratnam Jury Selection Says Friends Of David Tepper: Good, Friends Of Al Sharpton: Not So Good

By

By the lunch break, 13 potential jurors had been dismissed from the jury pool. At least one potential juror was dismissed after the judge raised questions about ownership of one of the companies at issue in the trial. It wasn’t clear what company the potential juror owned. Another potential juror was dismissed shortly after mentioning he had a 30-year friendship with Rev. Al Sharpton and was a former journalist, in response to a question about whether he or someone else had been a member of a group that lobbies or take positions on law-enforcement issues. One potential juror said she was a friend of David Tepper, the head of Appaloosa Management LP. She remains in the jury pool. [WSJ]

  • 08 Mar 2011 at 2:48 PM

Who Is On Your Galleon Trial Character Witness Wish List?

By

As you’ve likely heard, today marks the first day of the historic Raj Rajaratnam trial, the government’s biggest insider trading case to date. Jury selection kicked off this morning, and while we wait for a few hundred people to answer questions designed to reveal whether or not they have prejudices toward everyone from hedge fund managers, to Wall Street in general, to Sri Lankans to the big-boned, we thought it best to come with a list of character witnesses we’d like to see take the stand. Rajaratnam has already said he’ll speak on his own behalf and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is slated to make an appearance as well. But there are some lesser-known names who could probably tell an even richer tale about Raj and we’re just going to put their names out there and hope the universe does the right thing. Some of them would work in his favor and some not but all would add a certain je ne said quoi to the proceedings. They include: Continue reading »

  • 07 Mar 2011 at 10:45 AM

Raj Rajaratnam’s Defense Leaves Nothing To Chance In Jury Selection

By

As you may have heard, the Galleon insider trading trial kicks off this week, with Raj Rajaratnam himself expected to take the stand at some point. Like every trial by jury, the process of selecting jurors will prove a formidable task, given the complicated nature of the case, and that the defense needs to make sure the fate of their client will not be left to biased individuals, with certain opinions about Wall Street and Raj in particular. The thing about prejudice, though, is that it doesn’t always present itself in the most direct possible way. Few people will probably offer, for example, that they’re “of the mind that anyone working in the financial services industry is a greedy, corrupt bastard guilty of whatever he or she has been accused of,” but if you took a gander at their reading material and saw highlighted and underlined articles by a certain writer for Rolling Stone you might get an inkling of their point of view. To that end, the questionnaire potential jurors will be asked to fill out for the Galleon trial hit on every possible area where one’s bias could be revealed. Here’s a sampling of the questions:

* Do you like to read books? ______ Yes ______ No If yes, What types of books do you read? ___________________________________

* What TV shows, newscasts, radio shows and internet websites do you enjoy on a regular basis?

* Do you have strong positive or negative views about any of the following individuals. Federal law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI? ____ Yes ____ No Wall Street Executives? ____ Yes ____ No Technology Company Executives ____ Yes ____ No Prosecutors? ____ Yes ____ No Defense Counsel? ____ Yes ____ No If Yes, what are your views? ___________________________________

* Hedge Funds have been reported in the news over the past few years. Do you have any feelings concerning this industry? ____ Yes ____ No If Yes, please describe your feelings: _________________________

* How knowledgeable or familiar do you consider yourself to be about Hedge Funds? Please explain.
_____________________________________________________________

* How honest do you think Wall Street Executives are?
1 Not at All Honest
2 Below Average Honesty
3 Average Honesty
4 Above Average Honesty
5 Extremely Honest
Please explain your answer. ________________________

And here are some questions that will be posed in a follow-up session: Continue reading »