Nacchio's Quest for Justice

We first talked about his case here.

Yesterday the WSJ law Blog posted a copy of his appeal and this revealing excerpt.

Counsel is aware of no other case where the government has predicated a criminal charge of insider trading on predictions about financial results for future quarters. This prosecution is even more extraordinary in that the government presented no evidence of any internal forecast or any statement by any Qwest executive warning, at the time of Nacchio’s trades, that Qwest would not make its public projections. The prosecution yoked an unprecedented theory to plainly insufficient facts, and hoped, in a bitter and vindictive atmosphere, that it would be enough to win a conviction from a Denver jury. It was.

Why were the feds so eager to nail him? They were sending a message about the consequences of not cooperating:

Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA, the sources said. According to multiple sources, Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.
...
According to sources familiar with the events, Qwest's CEO at the time, Joe Nacchio, was deeply troubled by the NSA's assertion that Qwest didn't need a court order — or approval under FISA — to proceed. Adding to the tension, Qwest was unclear about who, exactly, would have access to its customers' information and how that information might be used.

Under different circumstances he would be considered a civil liberties hero, now he isn't even a martyr.

This is the second great white-collar appellate brief in the last month. Jeff Skilling's one is long but worth the time to read for any Enron followers.