Today, the 9th Circuit reversed former Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes conviction for options backdating. Reyes had been convicted on ten counts of fraud in a criminal case, and sentenced to 21 months in prison and a $15 million fine.
CNBC reports that the 9th Circuit, however, reversed the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct, setting aside all 10 counts of illegal backdating. The court stated that “the record demonstrates that the prosecution argued to the jury material facts that the prosecution knew were false, or at the very least had strong reason to doubt.”