Gupta Trial Update

As the second week of Rajat Gupta's insider-trading trial began, Judge Jed S. Rakoff asked both sides to "sharpen the presentation." "I am in awe of our jury for being attentive " to proceedings that have consisted largely of asking witnesses to review documents, he said. For those not so attentive to the case, here are a few recent highlights:

• Michael Cardillo, who is cooperating with the government after pleading guilty to insider trading, testified that R.K. Rajaratnam "told me he was hearing from Raj’s guy on the P&G board " and that Rajaratnam, brother of convicted insider trader Raj Rajaratnam , gave him trading directions based on that board member's information.
• Two jurors were excused to deal with family matters. Two of the four alternate jurors previously selected took their seats.
• Under cross-examination, Jon Moeller, chief financial officer of Procter & Gamble, acknowledged that a variety of people inside and outside the company were aware of P&G's plans to sell Folgers Coffee to J.M. Smucker Co. Defense attorney Gary Naftalis was seeking to raise doubts that leaks of those plans came from Gupta.

Also, the Wall Street Journal gathered some comments on whether Gupta should testify .I have previously defended (mostly) the morality of insider trading and argued that we should care about Gupta's case despite Goldman's receipt of a government bailout.