A U.S. federal appeals court on Monday threw out the 2004 obstruction and witness tampering conviction of former star investment banker Frank Quattrone and granted him a new trial.
Citing erroneous jury instructions by U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan sent the case back to the district court, with directions it be reassigned to a new judge. Owen had sentenced Quattrone to 18 months in prison after a Manhattan jury in May 2004 found the former Credit Suisse Group Inc. banker guilty of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering. Quattrone has been free pending the outcome of his appeal.
