Juror tells judge he didn't want to convict Martin Shkreli's BigLaw lawyer
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Martin Shkreli, the former client of Evan Greebel/Shutterstock.com.
Jury deliberations in the trial of former BigLaw lawyer Evan Greebel were “a complete mess,” according to a juror affidavit.
The jury was unanimous when it convicted Greebel on Dec. 27 of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, but one juror now says he felt threatened by other jurors and was forced to vote guilty. Courthouse News Service and Bloomberg have stories.
Greebel, a former income partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman was convicted in connection with his representation of convicted former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli.
Greebel was accused of helping Shkreli pay off investors who lost money in his hedge funds with assets from drug company Retrophin. Prosecutors had argued Greebel used fraudulent settlements and consulting agreements to transfer the money.
In a Feb. 17 affidavit, juror Desmond Sankar said he was confused throughout deliberations. Sankar said he told other jurors he believed prosecutors had not proved their case against Greebel, and thinks the lawyer should never have been charged.
When Sankar asked to see more evidence, one juror threatened to remove him from the jury and to write him up to the judge if he didn’t vote to convict, Sankar said. That juror and a second one said Sankar would never vote to convict because he was Catholic. “My religious faith did not prevent me from being fair and impartial,” Sankar said.
Sankar said he had called the court the day after the verdict because his guilty vote was not what he wanted to do. He said he answered the judge’s questions, but he thought the judge was asking only about physical threats.
Sankar, a part-time worker for a delivery service, also said jurors discussed the case before deliberations began and other jurors had said they believed Greebel was innocent.
Defense lawyers are asking U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto to vacate the guilty verdict or order a new trial.
