After a federal judge threw out the government’s first indictment of former GlaxoSmithKline PLC in-house lawyer Lauren Stevens because of improper jury instructions, Reid Weingarten refused to take a breather. When the government obtained a second indictment less than one month later, he pushed for a quick trial. Her court date would happen in a matter of weeks, not months.
The gambit paid off. After the government rested its case, U.S. District Judge Roger Titus entered a rare directed verdict acquitting Stevens of six criminal charges involving her alleged obstruction of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation of Glaxo’s off-label marketing of the anti-depression drug Wellbutrin. The government claimed that Stevens helped try to hide evidence that doctors paid by Glaxo promoted the drug’s use for unauthorized conditions, including obesity.
