Partner Jeffrey J. Ansley commented to The Texas Lawbook, in a piece also featured on the Dallas Business Journal exploring the recent acquittal of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price on white collar criminal charges, including federal bribery and mail fraud.
U.S. District Chief Judge Barbara Lynn presided over Price’s case. Ansley had this comment regarding Lynn’s handling of the matter:
She was fair, thoughtful, and conscientious about moving a case along that easily could have been bogged down for months. She made sure that both sides followed the law, even when that resulted in multiple instructions that the prosecution had failed to do so, and ensured that the defendants received the fair trial to which they are entitled.
Reflecting on the need for government prosecutors to self-evaluate after a high-profile loss, Ansley added:
The government’s case, and frankly its presentation of that case, fell dramatically short of what it takes to convict a defendant against skilled defense lawyers and a jury with the courage to follow the law.
The article’s author added that Ansley felt that, “the ‘government’s series of other missteps’ which ‘combined with a circumstantial case… just didn’t resonate with this jury.’”
Later in the piece Ansley commented:
It’s very likely that those unforced errors by the prosecution, which rightly led to multiple instructions to the jury by Lynn that the government had not followed the rules, caused the jury to question whether it really could trust the government’s case. When that happens, it’s usually not a good outcome for the government.