Colorado & Denver News

DENVER (AP) ― A federal judge closed part of a hearing in the insider trading case against former Qwest Chief Joe Nacchio Friday, saying information from the government's business dealings with the phone company should remain top secret to protect national security.

U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham did not rule on a defense request to move Nacchio's trial to preserve his fair-trial rights, but he broached the possibility of holding it in another Colorado city or drawing jurors from a broader geographic area.

Nottingham said courts rarely grant such motions and noted an exception in the Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh, which was moved from Oklahoma City to Denver.

"I don't see anyone saying, 'Let's get on with the case and convict him,"' Nottingham said during arguments on the motion.

Nacchio was not in the courtroom for the hearing, which lasted into the afternoon.

The closed portion of the hearing centered on documents involving Qwest's business contracts with the government, which the defense has said gave Nacchio hope for the company's future.

Attorneys permitted to attend the closed portion had special government clearance. Each showed identification at the door and gave up cell phones and electronic devices before entering. The courtroom doors were locked behind them.

Nacchio is charged with 42 counts of insider trading for allegedly selling $101 million in stock in 2001 based on inside knowledge that Qwest Communications International Inc. would be unable to meet revenue targets because it had improperly used nonrecurring revenue for 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.

Nottingham ruled on a handful of motions, dismissing a defense request to dismiss the charges citing prosecutorial misconduct and evidence-related issues.

When he was considering the motion to move the trial, Nottingham asked attorney Jeffrey Speiser about why pretrial publicity has affected this case.

Speiser said the press has linked Nacchio to the Qwest accounting scandal and pension fund woes.

"The press just keeps pounding away," he said. "He's charged simply with insider trading. He's not charged with doing harm to Qwest."

Nottingham also criticized defense attorneys for failing to complete research on pretrial publicity in the eight months since Nacchio was indicted.

Speiser had said they wanted to submit more documentation in the next few weeks.

"You have known about this and the underlying facts since day one," Nottingham told Speiser. "You had plenty of time."

The judge also had a warning for prosecutors. Nottingham chastised Assistant U.S. Attorney Cliff Stricklin, who was appointed to the case this week under new U.S. Attorney Troy Eid. In a Thursday story in the Rocky Mountain News, Stricklin said the case was important because insider trading "affects the integrity of our stock market and, more importantly, really attacks our sense of fair play."

Nottingham said the comment "teeters on the brink" of violating the code of professional responsibility for attorneys and said if future such comments were made, he would not hesitate to sanction Stricklin or any member of the prosecution team who does anything inconsistent with the presumption of innocence.

"Message received loud and clear," Stricklin replied. He declined comment during a break in the hearing.

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