Austin Campriello, an attorney for former executive director Stephen DiCarmine, said that the defence did not plan to call any witnesses because he did not think the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The move allows closing arguments to begin next week in the case that accuses the now-defunct firm’s ex-managers of falsely inflating its finances to remain in compliance with US$250m in debt.  

Streamlining the case

The decision comes as prosecutors said they intend to drop dozens of falsifying business records counts against Dewey’s former chief financial officer, Joel Sanders, as well as counts against its ex-chairman, Steven Davis, and Mr DiCarmine. Judge Robert Stolz had asked prosecutors earlier this week to scrap some charges in order to help streamline the case for jurors. Roughly 53 charges remain, including grand larceny, conspiracy and fraud. Source: The Wall Street Journal