Stanford testimony stalls after question prompts mistrial request

A prosecutor’s question to a defense witness today in the R. Allen Stanford fraud trial prompted a heated court argument after Stanford’s lawyers sought a mistrial, The Houston Chronicle reports. U.S. District Judge David Hittner denied the mistrial motion, but instructed jurors that they should base conclusions on testimony from the witness stand and not draw conclusions from lawyers’ questions. Defense attorney Ali Fazel moved for the mistrial, arguing that prosecutor Andrew Warren put a “skunk in the jury box” when he asked a defense expert witness if he knew computer hard drives containing Stanford financial information had been erased. Warren was cross-examining forensic accountant Morris Hollander, who was beginning his third day on the witness stand and has testified that the auditing and financial statements of Stanford’s companies comply with international accounting standards. Hollander acknowledged previously that he had based his information on the financial reports themselves and didn’t have access to working papers that Stanford’s auditor, CAS Hewlett, used to generate the annual reports. “Are you aware that the firm erased the hard drives?” Warren asked. Fazel immediately asked for a mistrial, and the jury was escorted out so lawyers could argue the motion. Stanford has denied all charges against him in the federal suit accusing him of perpetrating a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Read the full story here.