Monday, May 28, 2012

Gupta Could Be Sucky Witness





With his swept-back hair, square jaw and soothing voice of a television anchor, former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -0.17% director Rajat Gupta could make a compelling witness at his own criminal insider-trading trial, legal experts say.  Or, according to a Wall St Journal report, it could be too big a gamble.

The biggest potential drawback for Mr. Gupta, the 63-year-old former head of consulting firm McKinsey & Co., is that by testifying he could undermine his lawyer's main strategy: punching enough holes in a circumstantial prosecution based on phone and trading records to win an acquittal.

"The moment someone takes the stand, he's held to a different burden," said Susan Brune, a New York defense lawyer who won the acquittal of a Bear Stearns Cos. hedge-fund manager by raising doubt about the charges, without having her client take the stand….

Find out more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304065704577426760824028198.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

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