A federal judge blasted short-seller Andrew Left for being AWOL on Monday as the jury deliberated in his securities fraud trial — threatening to take him into custody if it happens again.
The scolding came after the jurors, who started deliberating last week, sent out a note to the judge.
US District Judge Virginia Phillips berated Left’s legal team when she realized he was not in the Los Angeles courthouse to hear the contents of the note.
His attorneys said he was 20 minutes away, and she pointed out that it had been 45 minutes since the note — which was to request read-back of a defense witness’ testimony — came in.
“If this happens again, I’m going to keep him in custody until we get a verdict. You can let him know that,” she said.
When Left arrived, Phillips upbraided him face-to-face.
“The jury waited an hour for you to arrive,” she said. “There’s no excuses for keeping the jury waiting like that.”
She ordered him to stay in the courthouse while the case is in session and said she would have US marshals hold him if he stepped out again.
Business Insider is in the courtroom as the jury in Andrew Left’s trial deliberates. Follow reporter Kelsey Vlamis for developments.
Left, the founder of the influential Citron Research, is accused of deceiving investors and manipulating the market to make profits of more than $20 million.
Prosecutors say he issues reports and opinions about companies he had bet on, waited for his large social-media following to move the market, and then quietly closed his positions at a different price than the target price he publicized.
Left, who took the stand in his own defense last week, says his reports and predictions were accurate, that he believed what he was saying in his posts and never intended to mislead anyone.
The witness the jury wanted to hear about again was Jack Martel, a lawyer who testified that he advised Citron Capital, Left’s hedge fund, that its trading model was legal and that there was no reason it had to wait to trade on companies after Citron Research issued reports.
“My advice was that there was no holding period,” Martel testified.
The prosecution said Martel primarily advised Left’s business partner. It also said Martel’s opinion was based on the information Citron gave him and that he wouldn’t have known if they were withholding relevant details.
The timing of Left’s trades has been a key issue in the case, with prosecutors arguing Left quickly made “U-turn” trades after his tweets and reports. The defense has said there was no law that prevented Left from trading shortly after making public statements.
