2006 Archives

Ex Gas Trade Wants Indictment Thrown Out

Published: February 14, 2006 RedOrbit

Jerry Futch, charged with four counts of reporting false natural gas trades to industry publications in November 2004, plead guilty to one count in June 2005. Over the weekend Futch attorney Philip Hilder, filed papers to dismiss the charge, saying his rights to due process and counsel were violated.

Download pdf


A tale of two Enrons unfolds as trial opens

Published: February 2, 2006 International Herald Tribune

Lawyers watching on Tuesday said that the trial was set to be a pitched battle. “It is going to be extremely difficult for this jury to sit in judgment,” said Philip Hilder, a trial attorney representing Sherron Watkins. “Both sides made very compelling cases,” Hilder said. “You can tell it is going to be a real slugfest.”

Download pdf

Risk-reward equation was used in building oil well in Gulf of

Special delivery for traffickers

Documents filed with the court Monday suggest Eversole – who is facing four charges – may plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents, said former federal prosecutor Philip Hilder. That charge carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Documents filed with the court Monday suggest Eversole – who is facing four charges – may plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to FBI agents, said former federal prosecutor Philip Hilder. That charge carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A lack of sufficient prep time, excessive pre-trial publicity – and even Twitter – all contributed to an unfair guilty verdict against R. Allen Stanford, attorneys for the convicted con man claim in their request for a new trial filed this week.

“The Houston community was saturated with publicity prejudicial to Stanford,” defense attorney Ali Fazel wrote in his 71-page request to U.S. District Judge David Hittner, the trial judge in the fraud case.

Stanford, who turns 62 on Saturday, was convicted March 6 on 13 of 14 counts that accused him of orchestrating a $7 billion investment fraud through his bank in the Caribbean nation of Antigua.

Sentencing is set for June 14, and Stanford could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The motion alleges that defense lawyers did not have adequate time to prepare for the trial after Stanford returned from nine months in a North Carolina prison hospital, where he was treated for addiction to medications prescribed when he was injured in a jailhouse fight.

A lack of sufficient prep time, excessive pre-trial publicity – and even Twitter – all contributed to an unfair guilty verdict against R. Allen Stanford, attorneys for the convicted con man claim in their request for a new trial filed this week.

“The Houston community was saturated with publicity prejudicial to Stanford,” defense attorney Ali Fazel wrote in his 71-page request to U.S. District Judge David Hittner, the trial judge in the fraud case.

Stanford, who turns 62 on Saturday, was convicted March 6 on 13 of 14 counts that accused him of orchestrating a $7 billion investment fraud through his bank in the Caribbean nation of Antigua.

Sentencing is set for June 14, and Stanford could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The motion alleges that defense lawyers did not have adequate time to prepare for the trial after Stanford returned from nine months in a North Carolina prison hospital, where he was treated for addiction to medications prescribed when he was injured in a jailhouse fight.

A lack of sufficient prep time, excessive pre-trial publicity – and even Twitter – all contributed to an unfair guilty verdict against R. Allen Stanford, attorneys for the convicted con man claim in their request for a new trial filed this week.

“The Houston community was saturated with publicity prejudicial to Stanford,” defense attorney Ali Fazel wrote in his 71-page request to U.S. District Judge David Hittner, the trial judge in the fraud case.

Stanford, who turns 62 on Saturday, was convicted March 6 on 13 of 14 counts that accused him of orchestrating a $7 billion investment fraud through his bank in the Caribbean nation of Antigua.

Sentencing is set for June 14, and Stanford could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The motion alleges that defense lawyers did not have adequate time to prepare for the trial after Stanford returned from nine months in a North Carolina prison hospital, where he was treated for addiction to medications prescribed when he was injured in a jailhouse fight.

A lack of sufficient prep time, excessive pre-trial publicity – and even Twitter – all contributed to an unfair guilty verdict against R. Allen Stanford, attorneys for the convicted con man claim in their request for a new trial filed this week.

“The Houston community was saturated with publicity prejudicial to Stanford,” defense attorney Ali Fazel wrote in his 71-page request to U.S. District Judge David Hittner, the trial judge in the fraud case.

Stanford, who turns 62 on Saturday, was convicted March 6 on 13 of 14 counts that accused him of orchestrating a $7 billion investment fraud through his bank in the Caribbean nation of Antigua.

Sentencing is set for June 14, and Stanford could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The motion alleges that defense lawyers did not have adequate time to prepare for the trial after Stanford returned from nine months in a North Carolina prison hospital, where he was treated for addiction to medications prescribed when he was injured in a jailhouse fight.

A lack of sufficient prep time, excessive pre-trial publicity – and even Twitter – all contributed to an unfair guilty verdict against R. Allen Stanford, attorneys for the convicted con man claim in their request for a new trial filed this week.

“The Houston community was saturated with publicity prejudicial to Stanford,” defense attorney Ali Fazel wrote in his 71-page request to U.S. District Judge David Hittner, the trial judge in the fraud case.

Stanford, who turns 62 on Saturday, was convicted March 6 on 13 of 14 counts that accused him of orchestrating a $7 billion investment fraud through his bank in the Caribbean nation of Antigua.

Sentencing is set for June 14, and Stanford could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The motion alleges that defense lawyers did not have adequate time to prepare for the trial after Stanford returned from nine months in a North Carolina prison hospital, where he was treated for addiction to medications prescribed when he was injured in a jailhouse fight.

Investors rely on ratings from S&P, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings when deciding whether to buy bonds. Collectively, they issue about 95% of ratings globally.

That dynamic makes punishing S&P a tough task, said Philip Hilder, a Houston-based lawyer and a former federal prosecutor. “You can’t come down too terribly hard on S&P without wounding the financial system,” Mr. Hilder said.

Investors rely on ratings from S&P, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings when deciding whether to buy bonds. Collectively, they issue about 95% of ratings globally.

That dynamic makes punishing S&P a tough task, said Philip Hilder, a Houston-based lawyer and a former federal prosecutor. “You can’t come down too terribly hard on S&P without wounding the financial system,” Mr. Hilder said.