I have received many e-mails with questions regarding the recent jury trial of United States v. Cassim, et. al, case number 4:09CR609 (S.D. Tx. 2010). We represented the defendant in that case where the jury returned a not guilty verdict after a five-day jury trial. The charge was conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. To our knowledge, this is the only “Not Guilty” jury verdict obtained for this type of case in Federal Court. The majority of charges culminate in guilty pleas.
To filter some of these inquiries, I will provide here some of the publicly available documents in that case as well as some thoughts. It was certainly a very favorable result and it appears to be the first time that the U.S. Department of Justice loses a trial of this type. Having said that, the information that will be posted here is for informational purposes only and is not in any way, shape or form, legal advice. You should not rely on any information contained here and should address any legal questions to an attorney of your choice. Please also be aware that being charged with a crime, particularly in Federal Court, is very serious. The F.B.I. is the most competent investigative agency in the U.S. and the Department of Justice attorneys are some of the finest.
With that out of the way, part one in this case was the initial indictment, which was brought up in Virginia. The case was ultimately tried in Texas, but that is a topic for a different day. Suffice to say that this case took several months and went cross-country, culminating in a five-day jury trial and a “Not Guilty” verdict.
Follow the link below to see the “Rabid Neurosis” (RNS) Indictment, this is how it began:
