US v. Nacchio: The Last Word (For Now)

The good news for Joe Nacchio is that the conviction was reversed. The bad news is almost everything else in the opinion.

On appeal, the defendant challenged various jury instructions and argued that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction. On all counts, the unanimous opinion (the dissent was only one the one issue that resulted in reversal) emphatically rejected the arguments.  The court likewise rejected arguments based upon the black box defense. 

All of this must be viewed in the context of a case that was apparently not ahard one for the jury.  To the extent it goes back for retrial, another conviction has to be seen as a high risk, testimony from Daniel Fischel notwithstanding.  The case will also be more focused, the jury having acquitted on the insider trading counts relating to the January and February trades. 

Time to think plea.