Day 10: Mohebbi's Last Day on the Stand? Both Sides Reserved the Right to Call Him Back

The day began with the continuation of the cross examination of Afshin Mohebbi, former COO of Qwest.  Stern began the day by questioning Mohebbi about the internal targets, and presented Mohebbi with a memo from an interview with Mohebbi to which Mohebbi confirmed an earlier statement that setting the goals more aggressively is one of the key reasons why Qwest has been so successful. 

Stern moved on and questioned Mohebbi about a memo he had written to Nacchio regarding certain suggestions Mohebbi made regarding "ideas about how an efficiently run Qwest could make an attempt to make the business numbers."  Mohebbi's suggestions included, among other things, setting up two committees: a cost committee headed by Mohebbi, and a revenue committee headed by Steve Jacobsen.  In his memo, Mohebbi also recommended that Nacchio pull back from his involvement in committee meetings.  Stern's line of questioning continued as he established through Mohebbi's testimony that Nacchio implemented many of Mohebbi's suggestions.  In doing so Nacchio sent out a memo in which he gave full control of the committees to Mohebbi and Jacobsen, and also stated that he would have little involvement in the meetings (stating that Nacchio's senior leadership team would only attend meetings on a monthly basis).

Stern continued his cross of Mohebbi by asking him about several memos or "bragging sheets" as Mohebbi put it, sent to Nacchio, in which Mohebbi informed Nacchio that despite tough economic conditions he and his team were able to meet or exceed the targets, including those set for the first quarter of 2001.  Stern then asked if Mohebbi was ever concerned about meeting the targets, to which Mohebbi stated "I worry about things, that's what operating people do."

Perhaps the most interesting part of Stern's cross examination came when he questioned Mohebbi about several conferences taking place in late 2001.  According to Mohebbi's testimony, he appeared at different conferences in his official capacity as a Qwest employee, but he was a substitute for Mr. Nacchio.  It was clear from Stern's questions that the defense was trying to establish that Mohebbi made positive public statements regarding Qwest financials at that time.  Stern questioned Mohebbi about the film slides used to accompany Mohebbi's speech, and whether Mohebbi recalled using specific slides, which gave the public the impression that Qwest financials were in good shape for late 2001.  Tension between Stern and Mohebbi grew a bit as Mohebbi's testimony repeatedly undermined Stern's approach.  The key points from Mohebbi's testimony regarding the presentation slides were:

• Mohebbi was only there as a substitute for Nacchio
• Mohebbi had nothing to do with the creation of the slides
• Mohebbi was given an opportunity to review the slides but did not have authority to approve the information presented
• Most importantly, Mohebbi repeatedly stated that due to time constraints he was unable to use every single slide, and that he has no recollection at this time as to which slides were used at any of the mentioned conferences

Sterns cross of Mohebbi ended shortly after, and Cliff Stricklin began his re-direct.  The redirect was short and to the point.  The main points discussed during the re-direct related to the fact that Mohebbi did not have any authority to set the guidance of Qwest, and that this authority belonged only to Nacchio.  Stricklin ended his re-direct by asking Mohebbi if he recalled telling Nacchio that if recurring revenues didn't pickup, there would not be enough one timers to fill the gap, to which Mohebbi answered in the affirmative.  Stricklin followed up by asking if Qwest was able to meet it's numbers for the third quarter of 2001, and Mohebbi answered, no.

After the re-direct Stern took another shot at the podium for a re-cross, which was cut short as Stern's approach proved ineffective and the defense quickly ended its re-direct.  Prosecutors then called Margaret Martinez to the stand.  Martinez was an employee of Sherman & Howard working in the document retention department.  She was specifically questioned regarding documents pertaining to an SEC investigation, which she removed from the office of Yash Rana (former VP and Associate General Counsel at Qwest).  Prosecution mainly used Martinez' testimony as a means to enter documentation from Rana's office into evidence.

In general, the morning was not too eventful but managed to pass quickly.  Stern's cross examination was a bit out of character.  In the past Stern has come off as disorganized when questioning witnesses, and often times confused about basic court room procedures.  Today was quite different, as Stern used a methodical approach when questioning Afshin Mohebbi, and with the exception of one or two slip ups, Stern was very respectful of Judge Nottingham and the court.  Mohebbi's testimony, while an interesting one, was most entertaining.  He is a very well spoken and articulate person.  He took the time to understand each question, then supplied a well thought out response.  Early this morning, I overheard a conversation between two spectators in the court room discussing Mohebbi's testimony and how they felt he should have been an attorney.  After hearing Mohebbi testify today, I would have to say I agree with them.