OUCH, THAT HURT! But Gen Re Fraud Trial Judge Turns Down Mistrial Motion

U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney denied Defendant Christopher Garand’s motion for mistrial Friday in the Gen Re fraud trial, currently taking place in Connecticut. The motion was based on the prejudicial nature of a taped conversation played to the jury. In the conversation, between former Cologne Re Dublin CEO John Houldsworth and then-Gen Re Senior VP Garand, Houldsworth asks Garand “How much cooking goes on there [at AIG]?” Garand answers, “Quite a bit. They’re fairly aggressive. They’ll do whatever they need to do to make their numbers look right.” Garand’s attorney, Jonathan Rich, complained that the reference to AIG book-cooking constituted “exceptionally inflammatory language.”

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