The conviction of a Penn alumnus was overturned last week following a highly publicized corporate trial.
Investment banker Frank Quattrone, a Wall Street giant who graduated from the Wharton School in 1977, was convicted of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering in May 2004.
The charges resulted from an e-mail that Quattrone forwarded to employees at the former investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston, now merged into Credit Suisse Group, urging them to "clean up" their files during a government investigation of initial public offerings of stock.
A federal appeals court panel in New York reversed the conviction March 20, stating that the judge gave "deficient" instructions to the jury.
The court said the judge failed to adequately explain to jury members that it was necessary to establish Quattrone's intent to hinder a government investigation in order to convict him.
Nonetheless, the panel released a 61-page statement in which Judge Richard Wesley wrote that "the evidence is sufficient to support Quattrone's conviction on each count."
The panel recommended that the case be held before a new judge, saying that although the the judge was impartial, "certain comments could be viewed as rising beyond mere impatience or annoyance."
It's still unknown whether the case will be retried.
According to Quattrone's attorney and friend Ken Hausman, it's rare for convictions by jury to be overturned and "almost unprecedented" for an appeals court to ask for a trial before a new judge.
Quattrone faced 11 civil suits over the past three years for his conduct at CSFB, all of which were dismissed.
He worked on the initial public offerings of more than 175 companies, including Netscape Communications Corp., now a division of American Online, and Amazon.com.
Four days following the appeal, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to overturn a life-long ban imposed by the National Association of Securities Dealers, the brokerage industry's self-policing group, which would have prevented Quattrone from working in the industry.
"He more than deserves whatever success he has," said Quattrone's college roommate and friend of more than 40 years, Tony Busillo, who graduated from the College in 1976.
Aside from sharing a room for two years, the two were part of a garage band in which Quattrone sang and played the saxophone.
"We're all normal dudes, you know?" said Busillo, an attorney.
Since the appeal hearing, Hausman said Quattrone has been spending time with family and friends as well as working on various charity projects.
If the Philadelphia native is re-tried, it will be the third trial he has undergone since a judge declared a mistrial in May 2003.
U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Megan Gaffney wouldn't comment on the case or another potential trial other than to say that they are reviewing their options.
Quattrone's spokesman, Bob Chlopak, said that although he hopes the charges will be dropped, his client is confident that a new trial would result in a different outcome than the past two. He said Quattrone doesn't plan to agree to a plea bargain.
"Frank didn't do anything wrong," Chlopak said. "He wants to see this come to an end, but he's not going to plea to something he didn't do."
He added that the timing will work to Quattrone's advantage.
"I think some of that sense that there's a lot going wrong in the business community and Wall Street has subsided," Chlopak said.
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