Legal Commentary

"Mr. Ruehle, you are a free man"

By Tom Kirkendall

Larry Ribstein and the WSJ's Holman Jenkins -- both of whom exposed the vacuity of the federal government's backdating witch hunt from the very beginning -- provided their usual insightful perspective on U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney's decision earlier this week to dismiss the government's remaining criminal charges against former Broadcom CFO William J. Ruehle and Broadcom's co-founder, Henry Nicholas, III. A copy of the transcript of Judge Carney's inspiring ruling is below.

Given the excellence of Professor Ribstein and Mr. Jenkins' analysis of the corrupt nature of the backdating prosecutions, there is really nothing to add in that regard. The bottom line is that the unchecked prosecutorial power of the state does enormous damage to lives, families, and careers, as well as job and wealth creation.

But as I read the transcript below and the motion to dismiss that prompted it, imagine my surprise to discover that one of the prosecutors involved in the Broadcom misconduct was a member of the Enron Task Force that engaged in similar conduct in connection with the prosecution of former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling and chairman Ken Lay. Frankly, as bad as the prosecutorial misconduct was in the criminal case against Mr. Ruehle and the other Broadcom executives, it pales in comparison to what prosecutors made Skilling and Lay endure.

Judge Carney provided in the Broadcom prosecutions a perspective of fairness and wisdom that was sadly lacking in the Enron cases. He reminds us that the line between freedom and oppression in civil society is often razor-thin.

His final declaration in the transcript below is one that we should all embrace:

"I don't think anything needs to be said further other than, Mr. Ruehle, you are a free man."

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).