An attorney with a flair for public relations failed so badly at persuading a federal appellate panel to overturn his convictions that the judge who wrote the opinion took the unusual step of adding a concurrence that could bolster prosecutors’ case.
California lawyer Mitchell J. Stein’s conviction of writing false press releases to inflate stock prices remains in place, but he’ll get a new sentence, according to a 47-page ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He’ll also get new media attention because Judge Jill Pryor expanded the ruling with new guidance for weighing circumstantial evidence in securities fraud cases.
