Touree and the Jury

This story about the Tourre jurors — http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/in-complex-trading-case-jurors-focused-on-greed/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130803&_r=1& — reveals the power of a “Wall Street greed” jury argument, even where the defendant was both low-ranking and apparently likable to the jury. One wonders, though, about the extent to which asking jurors to punish an abstraction — which, after all, is what “Wall Street greed” is — vitiates the requirement that as to a specific individual the Government prove each element (whether by a preponderance standard, as here, or by a reasonable-doubt standard, had this been a criminal case)

Tags: