Judge Reads 100-Page Instructions to Jury Trying Ex-Attorney Accused of $4M Client Theft
A Florida judge began reading 100 pages of instructions at 9 a.m. today to the jury trying a now-disbarred real estate attorney in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of some $4 million in client funds.
It was expected that Senior Judge James Midelis might conclude around 3 p.m., after which the jury can begin deliberating on the 45 charges Ira Hatch is facing in the Vero Beach racketeering and theft case, TCPalm reported.
But a subsequent post on TCPalm’s Ira Hatch Trial Blog reports that Midelis was only on charge 22 at 2:30 p.m. and estimated that the judge won’t be done reading until 4 p.m.
Now 62, Hatch is accused of stealing $4 million from his former law firm, Hatch & Doty, and Coastal Escrow Services of Vero Beach, which has since closed down, according to TCPalm. Some 800 victims were affected, reports the Vero Beachside Newspaper.
In addition to racketeering and money-laundering counts, he faces 43 charges of grand theft, reports WPTV.
During a trial that lasted for nearly two months, the prosecution said Hatch stole money to fund a lavish lifestyle. Meanwhile, the defense said the government couldn’t prove its case because it failed to conduct a forensic audit to determine where the missing $3.97 million went, reports another TCPalm article.
All of the evidence presented establishes only a simple scheme to defraud, defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger told the jury at one point, dropping pennies, nickels and dimes into a glass jar, shaking it, and then stacking coins alongside the jury box.
“What they’ve proven is a single count of first-degree grand theft,” he stated. “No more or no less.”
Earlier coverage:
TCPalm (2007): “Collapse of Vero Beach escrow company could affect entire Treasure Coast “
