Prosecutor Accuses Gupta Lawyer of Gloating Behavior; Judge Warns Against 'Gotcha' Games
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has a warning for lawyers in the insider trading trial of former Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta: They should not engage in games of “gotcha.”
Rakoff spoke Wednesday after Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky said he saw defense lawyer Gary Naftalis vaunting courtroom victories before jurors on at least two occasions, report the Associated Press and Reuters. Last week, Brodsky said, he saw Naftalis give a thumbs up to the gallery during cross-examination. Then on Wednesday, Brodsky said, he heard Naftalis “loudly say to his team, ‘Got him!’ ” after showing a document to a government witness.
Naftalis said he doesn’t remember making such a remark or gesture, and if he did, it was unlikely that jurors noticed. Then Naftalis suggested Brodsky wasn’t fair in his questioning of a witness because his recollection of prior testimony was inaccurate, AP says.
Rakoff responded this way: “I think we’re down now to the very polite form of name calling, and that is not what I want to hear from either of counsel, who I respect tremendously. It is not going to be helpful if we degenerate into a game of ‘gotcha’ or ‘I can stick my tongue out more than you can.’ “
