In an unusual move, prosecutors charged the 61-year-old Stevens last November with lying to the Food and Drug Administration about whether Glaxo was promoting its depression drug Wellbutrin for non-approved uses, such as weight loss. On Tuesday, in the midst of Stevens’s trial, Weingarten convinced Maryland federal district court judge Roger Titus to acquit his client before he even put on a single witness.
“I had a sense the trial was going very well,” said Weingarten about his assessment of the case before the judge’s ruling. Still, getting a full acquittal mid-trial is exceptionally rare. “I’ve had counts knocked out before, but I’ve never had a clean sweep,” he said. Weingarten, who was added to the defense team as the trial approached, worked with lawyers from Ropes & Gray.