Full Text
CAC3PARC 26
1 But the real question is, did Mr. Parse know that that was
2 defrauding the government. Right.
3 Look, the avalanche of work here was in December. But
4 the question is, if you made a mistake, like in my example, can
5 you undo it. And you have to appreciate what the government
6 has said to you today. It has essentially said if it is a
7 broker's mistake, like in my hypothetical, then maybe a
8 reasonable broker could think you could undo it. But if it is
9 a lawyer's mistake, you can't. And that's a very different
10 version of the annual accounting rule than I've ever heard
11 before. Right. And if my hypothetical is one in which a
12 reasonable broker could think leave it up to the tax lawyers, I
13 am not sure what happened in this case isn't in that same
14 category.
15 We ended up with an argument about the contents of the
16 note and how your Honor should interpret them to show whether
17 there was prejudice here. All of this began with the
18 government saying to us be careful, Rule 606(b) has its limits.
19 The one thing I know, and the Third Circuit case in Breakiron
20 is quite good on talking about whether one looks at this
21 subjectively or objectively, you can't draw inferences from
22 that juror's note in deciding whether there was prejudice here
23 for two reasons. One, 606(b) precludes it, and two, that note
24 was written by Catherine Conrad and I still don't think the
25 United States wants to be standing up in a court and saying
UNITED STATES DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
(212) 805-0300
DOJ-OGR-00010183