Compliance
Court Refuses Broker Appeal for Pension Fraud Conviction
A federal appellate court has rebuffed a bid by former investment
broker Nathan Chapman Jr. to overturn his conviction for fraud against
the Maryland state pension system on "ineffective assistance of
counsel" grounds.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
“To summarize, we conclude that decisions involving mistrials—whether to seek a mistrial or accept a mistrial offered by the trial court—are tactical decisions left to the sound judgment of counsel,” according to the ruling. “The decision remains counsel’s to make even if the client expresses disagreement with the decision, and counsel’s decision is not unreasonable simply because the client disagrees.”
Chapman, sentenced in 2007 to five years and three months in prison, was convicted in August 2004 of using state pension money to buy stock in his companies to prop up their value—a move that went sour when the stock value plummeted and the retirement system lost virtually all of that money (see “Chapman Jurors Convict on 23 of 32 Charges”).
Chapman once served as a chairman of the state university system’s board of regents.