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Doyle, Jim. San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext) [San Francisco, Cali f] 20 Mar 1991: B6.

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A federal judge yesterday halted a trial and threw out a bribery case against two Bay Area telecommunications

executives who were charged with conspiring to pay off Colombian officials in exchange for contracts. The abrupt

dismissal, which came after a 12-member jury heard two weeks of testimony by prosecution witnesses against

the telephone executives for Harris Corp. in Novato, was a stunning defeat for the Justice Department. It is

extremely rare for federal judges to exercise their option at mid-trial of preventing a case from going to the jury.

Shortly after the government rested its case, U.S.

A federal judge yesterday halted a trial and threw out a bribery case against two Bay Area telecommunications

executives who were charged with conspiring to pay off Colombian officials in exchange for contracts. The abrupt

dismissal, which came after a 12-member jury heard two weeks of testimony by prosecution witnesses against

the telephone executives for Harris Corp. in Novato, was a stunning defeat for the Justice Department. It is

extremely rare for federal judges to exercise their option at mid-trial of preventing a case from going to the jury.

Shortly after the government rested its case, U.S. District Judge Charles Legge of San Francisco ruled from the

bench that ""no reasonable jury" could convict the company nor its executives on any of the five bribery-related

counts for which they were indicted. Citing insufficient evidence, Legge said the government had failed to show

any intent by the defendants to enter into a criminal conspiracy. Legge also said it was the first time in his six

years on the federal bench that he had dismissed a criminal case at mid-trial for lack of evidence. The acquittal

also reinforced the Justice Department's poor track record of prosecutions in overseas bribery cases. Federal

prosecutors have won only two dozen convictions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 since the law

was adopted more than a decade ago. ""We're very pleased that our digital telephone systems division and its

employees have been vindicated, but we believe the charges should never have been brought in the first place,"John T. Hartley, the company's chairman, said in a written statement. ""The Justice Department's case was based

upon a distorted view of the facts," he said, adding that taxpayers would bear the government's costs and that

Harris Corp. incurred more than $3 million in legal fees. ""The case has also placed a heavy strain on our two

employees named in the indictment." Prosecutor Scott MacKay said the government brought the case in good

faith: ""We're disappointed with the judge's ruling. We feel that we presented a good case, but we accept the

judge's ruling." In the trial, MacKay told the jury that Harris Corp. and two of its executives, John B. Iacobucci and

Ronald L. Schultz, conspired to pay a Colombian congressman a percentage of any contracts obtained, and to pay

off officials at Colombia's state-run telephone company.

Copyright Chronicle Publishing Company Mar 20, 1991

Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case: [FINAL Edition] - Print docume... http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/docprintview/302651

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7/31/2019 Judge Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case

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Title: Judge Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case: [FINAL Edition]

Author: Doyle, Jim

Publication title: San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext)

Pages: B6

Number of pages: 0

Publication year: 1991

Publication date: Mar 20, 1991

Year: 1991

Section: NEWS

Publisher: San Francisco Chronicle, a division of Hearst Communications

Inc.

Place of publication: San Francisco, Calif.

Country of publication: United States

Journal subject: General Interest Periodicals--United States

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: NEWSPAPERProQuest document ID: 302651561

Document URL: http://ezproxy.sfpl.org/login?url=http:

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Copyright: Copyright Chronicle Publishing Company Mar 20, 1991

Last updated: 2010-08-27

Database: ProQuest Newsstand

Copyright 2012 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions

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Tosses Out Overseas Bribery Case: [FINAL Edition] - Print docume... http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/docprintview/302651

6/18/2012