By Carlyn Kolker
GREENBELT, Md., March 17 (Reuters Legal) - A federal judge is considering whether to dismiss an indictment against a former GlaxoSmithKline PLC lawyer after new evidence emerged about possible prosecutorial errors in her indictment.
The lawyer, Lauren Stevens, was charged in November with obstructing a Food and Drug Administration probe into Glaxo's marketing of its antidepressant drug Wellbutrin.
At a hearing on Thursday in Greenbelt, Maryland, Stevens' attorney asked U.S. District Judge Roger Titus to throw out the indictment, arguing that prosecutors failed to properly answer a question raised during grand jury proceedings.
The grand juror's question concerned whether it was relevant that Stevens received advice from others. Her lawyers have said she was acting on the advice of Glaxo's law firm, King & Spalding.
Prosecutors responded that the so-called advice-of-counsel defense was only an issue at a trial, not at a grand jury. That answer was not accurate and was part of a systematic effort to keep Stevens from invoking her defense, her attorney, Reid Weingarten, said at Thursday's hearing.
'The problems here are fundamental, obvious and I don't think they can be defended,' Weingarten said.
Titus asked prosecutors pointed questions about how they responded to the grand jury request. 'The question is whether the answer was correct, and if not, what's the remedy?' he asked.
Titus did not say when he would issue a ruling, but raised the possibility of throwing out the current indictment while allowing prosecutors to start new grand jury proceedings and seek a new indictment.
Patrick Jasperse, a lawyer for the government, said that prosecutors essentially fulfilled their duty before the grand jury and said it would be 'extreme' to throw out the indictment.
'Could the answer have been more articulate and complete? Absolutely,' Jasperse said. 'But the government basically got it right.'
After the hearing, Weingarten and Jasperse declined to comment. King & Spalding spokesman Les Zuke declined to comment on the firm's role.
Grand jury proceedings are typically secret, but some portions of this one were made public in court filings that were part of the defense's effort to dismiss the indictment.
The FDA's original investigation was into whether doctors who were paid by Glaxo promoted Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, such as treating obesity.
(Reporting by Carlyn Kolker of Reuters Legal; Editing by Eddie Evans) Keywords: GLAXOSMITHKLINE/STEVENS (carlyn.kolker@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8021) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
GREENBELT, Md., March 17 (Reuters Legal) - A federal judge is considering whether to dismiss an indictment against a former GlaxoSmithKline PLC lawyer after new evidence emerged about possible prosecutorial errors in her indictment.
The lawyer, Lauren Stevens, was charged in November with obstructing a Food and Drug Administration probe into Glaxo's marketing of its antidepressant drug Wellbutrin.
At a hearing on Thursday in Greenbelt, Maryland, Stevens' attorney asked U.S. District Judge Roger Titus to throw out the indictment, arguing that prosecutors failed to properly answer a question raised during grand jury proceedings.
The grand juror's question concerned whether it was relevant that Stevens received advice from others. Her lawyers have said she was acting on the advice of Glaxo's law firm, King & Spalding.
Prosecutors responded that the so-called advice-of-counsel defense was only an issue at a trial, not at a grand jury. That answer was not accurate and was part of a systematic effort to keep Stevens from invoking her defense, her attorney, Reid Weingarten, said at Thursday's hearing.
'The problems here are fundamental, obvious and I don't think they can be defended,' Weingarten said.
Titus asked prosecutors pointed questions about how they responded to the grand jury request. 'The question is whether the answer was correct, and if not, what's the remedy?' he asked.
Titus did not say when he would issue a ruling, but raised the possibility of throwing out the current indictment while allowing prosecutors to start new grand jury proceedings and seek a new indictment.
Patrick Jasperse, a lawyer for the government, said that prosecutors essentially fulfilled their duty before the grand jury and said it would be 'extreme' to throw out the indictment.
'Could the answer have been more articulate and complete? Absolutely,' Jasperse said. 'But the government basically got it right.'
After the hearing, Weingarten and Jasperse declined to comment. King & Spalding spokesman Les Zuke declined to comment on the firm's role.
Grand jury proceedings are typically secret, but some portions of this one were made public in court filings that were part of the defense's effort to dismiss the indictment.
The FDA's original investigation was into whether doctors who were paid by Glaxo promoted Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, such as treating obesity.
(Reporting by Carlyn Kolker of Reuters Legal; Editing by Eddie Evans) Keywords: GLAXOSMITHKLINE/STEVENS (carlyn.kolker@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8021) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.