Federal judge tosses case against 2 former Broadcom execs in stock options backdating case
By APTuesday, December 15, 2009
Judge tosses case against 2 former Broadcom execs
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge has dismissed fraud charges against Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III and former Chief Financial Officer William Ruehle in their stock option backdating case because of prosecutorial misconduct.
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney on Tuesday also asked government prosecutors to show cause why a separate drug indictment against Nicholas should not also be thrown out.
The move comes after Carney also vacated a guilty plea by Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli in the same case.
Carney found that prosecutors tried to prevent three key defense witnesses from testifying, improperly contacted attorneys for defense witnesses, and leaked information about grand jury proceedings to the media.
