DENVER—Statement released Wednesday by Maureen Mahoney, attorney for former Qwest Communications International Inc. CEO Joe Nacchio:
We are profoundly disappointed by the Court of Appeals’ closely divided en banc decision. As the dissenting judges stated: “We have nagging doubts about the district judge’s sense of fairness towards this defendant. If the decision here (to preclude a critical defense witness from testifying) was not an abuse of discretion, we wonder what one would look like.”
Not only was the court intensely divided, with four of the nine judges concluding that Mr. Nacchio was denied a fair trial, but the majority’s decision is in conflict with the decisions of other courts of appeal throughout the country.
We are optimistic that the Supreme Court of the United States will review the case, not just to resolve the conflicts but to correct what the chief judge of the Court of Appeals described as “a draconian decision” to deprive Nacchio of his fundamental right to a defense: A decision which the chief judge said “flies in the face of the truth finding goals of trial.”
