Never one to mince words, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan had a few harsh ones for Bank of America Corp. on Tuesday, ruling that it “utterly failed” to offer a compelling reason to retry a mortgage fraud case that put the bank on the hook for $1.27 billion.

In a 15-page decision, Rakoff rejected a motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial lodged by Bank of America’s lawyers at Williams & Connolly.