Aug 1, 2006 8:06 am US/Mountain
Nacchio Wants Trial Moved To New Jersey
DENVER (AP) ―
Joe Nacchio's attorneys requested his insider trading trial be moved from Denver to New Jersey partly so his wife and two sons, and 88-year-old mother could attend the former Qwest CEO's insider trading trial.
"Mr. Nacchio is widely presumed to be guilty," his attorneys wrote in their change of venue request filed Monday, the day U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham set as a deadline for filing a motion.
Nacchio's attorneys said the price decline of Qwest stock, layoffs, losses to the pension plan, along with media coverage of numerous civil lawsuits, including one by the Securities Exchange Commission would make it difficult to get an impartial jury.
Nacchio is charged with 42 counts of insider trading, accused of selling $101 million in stock in 2001 based on inside knowledge that Qwest Communications International Inc. would be unable to meet targets because it had improperly used nonrecurring revenue to meet those goals.
Each count carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Nacchio has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail. He and his family live in New Jersey.
Nacchio's attorneys echoed their previous claim made in a motion filed in May that Nacchio "has become among the most reviled figures in recent Denver history." In the latest motion, they argued the trial should be moved for the "convenience of parties and witnesses, and in the interests of justice," adding that Nacchio's family wants to attend the trial in support.
Neither prosecutors nor Nacchio's Denver-based attorney returned messages left after business hours.
Nottingham on July 21 had set Monday as the deadline for Nacchio and his attorneys to file their motion. They had requested more time to research the issue, but Nottingham disagreed saying the former Qwest chief's attorneys had plenty of time since raising the issue in May.
Prosecutors have until Aug. 18 to submit a response, with a motions hearing set for Aug. 25.
Nacchio's attorneys also asked Nottingham to give them until Sept. 15 to supplement their request with an expert analysis of public attitudes based on a survey by professor Edward Bronson.
In addition to the criminal case, Nacchio is one of several former executives accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of orchestrating a financial fraud that forced Qwest to restate billions of dollars in revenue.
The SEC has said fraud occurred between April 1999 and March 2002 which allowed Qwest to improperly report approximately $3 billion in revenue that helped clear the way for its 2000 acquisition of the Baby Bell, U.S. West.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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