The start of the trial of former JPMorgan traders Gregg Smith, Michael Nowak, Christopher Jordan and Jeffrey Ruffo, who stand accused of spoofing is postponed. This became clear during a telephone conference held on August 24, 2021.
The Honorable Edmond E. Chang of the Illinois Northern District Court warned that the Court is still operating under pandemic-era jury-trial protocols that require social distancing (and other safety measures, such as masking and testing). The Court had hoped that the protocols would have ended or at least be modified by mid-10/2021 (and indeed even earlier), but the recent surge in community spread of the coronavirus has undermined that expectation.
The protocols still limit the number of trials that can be conducted at any one time (three courtrooms are needed to conduct one trial), as well as reduce the number of defendants who can be tried at any one time. On the latter point, based on conferral with the District’s Trial Task Force, there is no courtroom that can accommodate a four-defendant criminal trial; only the Ceremonial Courtroom can hold a three-defendant trial (but that courtroom is frequently needed for grand jury and other proceedings); and only the Ceremonial Courtroom and one other courtroom can hold a two-defendant trial.
At the hearing, the government reported there are no active plea negotiations with any of the defendants and it is anticipated all four defendants will proceed to trial at this time. The parties offered their views on trial scheduling (of course all are disappointed with the ongoing pandemic that has caused the trial limitations), with defendant Smith asking for a two-Defendant severance, and the other Defendants expressing concern about completely masked trials (except for witnesses on the stand).
The Judge noted that there are significant public-interest reasons to hold a single trial, as well as no guarantee that a two-Defendant trial would be approved ahead of detained-defendant trials, with preparation for mailings to a special panel due next week. So a two-Defendant trial was denied.
The pretrial conference date of August 30, 2021 and the jury trial date of October 19, 2021 are vacated.
The government noted that it is considering seeking a Second Superseding Indictment, adding wire-fraud counts on previously identified sequences. If sought and returned by the grand jury, then a pretrial motions deadline will be set for new material in the new indictment. The defense might target the very bringing of the new indictment. (The Court is skeptical because the government is not at fault for the continuance, so it does not seem like there would be a basis to object. Having said that, the Court says it will consider the motion if filed.)
Let’s recall that this prosecution arises out of an alleged commodities-spoofing conspiracy perpetrated by precious-metals traders. The superseding indictment charges a conspiracy to commit racketeering activity, as well as substantive counts of fraud, spoofing, and attempted price manipulation. On August 17, 2021, Judge Edmond E. Chang of the Illinois Northern District Court, issued a Memorandum & Opinion axing the bank fraud charges against the defendants.