March 15, 2007

"The state of California's case against Hewlett-Packard executives, brought last year as a headline-grabbing prosecution of corporate malfeasance, ended with a whimper Wednesday when a judge agreed to dismiss charges against the former board chairwoman and refused to impose jail time on three others." (The Recorder). San Jose Mercury-News:

Let's just say it straight out: The prosecution of ex-Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and three other defendants in the Hewlett-Packard corporate-espionage case covered the California Attorney General's Office in the kind of mud that's hard ever to wash off.

The chief culprit in this fiasco is ex-AG Bill Lockyer, who got personally invested in the HP case when he was running for treasurer as a termed-out lawman in the fall last year.

On some of the weaknesses in Lockyer's case, see this commentary in the Legal Intelligencer by white-collar defense attorney Christopher R. Hall.

Update: Roger Parloff comments.