Peter Foley/Bloomberg NewsRajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director, arriving at court last week.
Rajat K. Gupta, a former director of Goldman Sachs accused of leaking secrets about the bank, will not testify at his insider trading trial, according to a letter from his lawyers that was filed with the court on Sunday.
His lawyers’ decision is something of an about-face. Late Friday, after the jury had gone home for the weekend, Gary P. Naftalis, a lawyer for Mr. Gupta, said it was said that it was “highly likely” that his client would testify in his own defense next week.
On Sunday, Mr. Naftalis said he had reversed course.
“We have the spent the last day reviewing what we believe we need to present in the defense case,” Mr. Naftalis wrote in his letter. “After substantial reflection and consideration, we have determined that Mr. Gupta will not be a witness on his own behalf in the defense case.”
A spokesman for the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. Mr. Naftalis declined to comment beyond what was written in the letter.
The government has accused Mr. Gupta, who was also a former head of the consulting firm McKinsey Company, with leaking boardroom secrets about Goldman Sachs and Procter Gamble to his friend and business associate Raj Rajaratnam. Last year, a jury convicted Mr. Rajaratnam, the former head of the Galleon Group hedge fund, with insider trading.
The trial, in Federal District Court in Manhattan before Judge Jed S. Rakoff, will begin on Monday its fourth and final week.
On Friday, Mr. Naftalis had promised Judge Rakoff that if the defense decided that Mr. Gupta was not going take the stand, he would immediately inform the prosecutors so “they could put down their pencils” in preparing to cross examine him.
There were signficant risks — but also potential rewards — in having Mr. Gupta testify.
Once a defendant testifies in his own case, the jury’s focus often shifts from the government evidence to the credibility of Mr. Gupta, who, until recently, had a sterling reputation and a stellar business career. That could have worked in his favor if he would have been able to explain away the substantial circumstantial evidence against him.
But it could have also backfired if something went wrong on the witness stand and Mr. Gupta said something incriminating.
On Friday, the government rested its case after 12 days of testimony from 20 witnesses. The defense began putting on its own witnesses and will continue its case on Monday. Without Mr. Gupta’s testimony, closing statements could begin as soon as Tuesday, with the jury getting the case by mid-week.
Letter From Rajat Gupta’s Lawyer
Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/gupta-wont-testify-at-his-insider-trading-trial/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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