Financial Commentator Courtney Smith Acquitted of Securities Fraud Charges

4 December 2005

Thelen Reid & Priest LLP confirmed that its client, Courtney D. Smith, was acquitted by a federal jury of all eleven counts in an indictment alleging violations of the securities laws. The indictment was obtained by the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. A federal jury yesterday acquitted Mr. Smith of ten counts. The district court had previously dismissed one of the counts for insufficiency of evidence. The charges related to public television and radio appearances that Mr. Smith, 53 years old, of New York City, made from December 1999 through March 2001 about GenesisIntermedia.com, Inc., ("GENI") a rising internet company which traded on the NASDAQ exchange. Mr. Smith made literally hundreds of appearances on nationally televised media during that time frame, including appearances on CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg, among other shows, and was frequently asked to speak about the markets in general and stocks in particular. The evidence revealed that Mr. Smith genuinely believed in the accuracy of his statements and predictions he made about all stocks, including GENI, and indeed evidence at trial revealed that Mr. Smith's predictions about various stock performances generally outperformed the markets. The government sought to persuade a jury that Mr. Smith was paid by GENI to promote or "tout" its stock, a charge which Mr. Smith vehemently denied, and which the jury ultimately rejected after a seven day trial. "We were gratified by the jury's seeing it our way," stated Mr. Smith's trial counsel, George B. Newhouse, Jr. of the national law firm, Thelen Reid & Priest. "Mr. Smith's integrity as a nationally recognized expert on the markets is a vital asset to him, and there was no way that my client was guilty of this conduct. We regret that we were called upon to defend his good name in court, but we appreciate that the justice system worked in this case." Thelen Reid & Priest LLP is a national law firm with more than 440 lawyers located in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and northern New Jersey. The firm provides superior legal services with a focus on complex commercial litigation; corporate and capital markets transactions; project and asset finance; construction; labor and employment; intellectual property; domestic and international tax; employee benefits; government affairs; and real estate. Courtney D. Smith is the President of Courtney Smith & Company (courtneysmithco.com).

Source: PR Newswire

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