Deliberating for a second day, jurors in the insider trading trial of Mathew Martoma, a former top portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors, on Wednesday requested documents supporting the defense’s claim that he is not guilty.
The jury of seven women and five men â€" which includes a lawyer, an New York University professor and a chief executive â€" began deliberating shortly after 10 a.m. Most had battled a winter storm and icy roads to arrive on time at the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
Shortly after lunch, the jurors asked to see the transcript of testimony from one of the defense witnesses, raising the possibility that they may be weighing a not-guilty verdict. But predicting how a jury will vote based on evidence requests is difficult and can lead to erroneous conclusions, lawyers say.
Mr. Martoma is accused of seeking secret information from two doctors involved in a clinical drug trial for an experimental Alzheimer’s drug which was being developed by Elan and Wyeth. One of those doctors, Dr. Sidney Gilman, testified that he gave Mr. Martoma an advance look at the final results weeks before they were made public.
Prosecutors contend that Mr. Martoma used the information, which turned out to be negative trial results, as the basis to liquidate a $700 million investment in Elan and Wyeth shares a week before the public announcement. In doing so Mr. Martoma and SAC avoided losses and made gains totaling $275 million, the authorities say.
Prosecutors had long hoped Mr. Martoma would cooperate and provide the missing link in their pursuit of Steven A. Cohen, the billionaire founder of the hedge fund. Mr. Cohen has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, but is facing a civil action from the S.E.C.
Mr. Martoma, dressed in a dark suit and red tie that matched the red dress worn by his wife, Rosemary, listened as the judge read the jurors’ request.
The defense has argued that the information that Dr. Gilman gave Mr. Martoma was already published in a news release of preliminary results announced a month earlier by Elan and Wyeth.
During the case, now in its fifth week, Mr. Martoma’s lawyers brought Dr. Thomas Wisniewski, a professor of neurology at New York University, to the witness stand. He testified that there was “no substantial difference†between the June 17, 2008, news release and the draft of slides that Dr. Gilman told the jury he had shown Mr. Martoma on July 19, 2008.
Early in the morning as some jurors, arriving minutes late, were rushed through security at the courthouse, Mr. Martoma and his wife were ordering breakfast in the basement canteen.
The jurors did not reach a verdict at the end of the day and will continue deliberating Thursday morning. If convicted, Mr. Martoma could face a sentence of seven to ten years, legal experts say.
