On January 9, 2008, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer denied ex-Brocade CEO Greg Reyes’ motion for a hearing or a new trial based on the allegedly false testimony of a witness at trial. As previously reported (see here), Reyes was convicted of securities fraud on August 7, 2007 for failing to properly account for backdated stock options. Recently, it became known that a trial witness, Elizabeth Moore, who had worked in Brocade’s finance department, may have given false testimony under pressure from prosecutors. However, the portion of Moore’s testimony that may have been false – namely, that Reyes hid his backdating conduct from the finance department – appears to be largely irrelevant to Reyes’ culpability, although Reyes had argued at trial that the finance department had created the backdating policy. Judge Breyer indicated that Moore’s testimony likely did not influence the outcome of the trial, and further noted that, during the trial, Reyes had presented no witnesses to counter Moore’s testimony.
Reyes will be sentenced on January 16, 2008.
