In a sharp rebuke of the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office for failing to disclose Brady materials, a federal appellate court has overturned the convictions of six brokers implicated in a scheme to allow day traders to eavesdrop on confidential communications.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in United States v. Mahaffy, 09-5349, that the federal prosecutors deprived the defendants of a fair trial by failing to turn over transcripts that contradicted the testimony of key government witnesses. The panel noted that an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission who conducted pretrial depositions cautioned that at least some of the materials could be subject to mandatory disclosure under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).
