Testimony at Black and Nacchio Trials

At the criminal trial of Lord Conrad Black,  former head of Hollinger International, a lawyer for a buyer of some newspapers from Hollinger Int'l testified that he saw co-defendant Mark Kipnis, a Hollinger Int'l lawyer, write a note directing payment of $9.5 million of the purchase price directly to Black.  See NYTimes, Hollinger Trial Witness Tells of Payment Note .  Meanwhile, at the criminal inside trading trial of Joseph Nacchio, former head of Qwest Communications, a government witness testified that Nacchio told her he had classified information that the corporation would get lucrative government contracts.  Nacchio's defense is expected to be that he did not sell his stock based on inside information that the corporation did not meet its forecasted earnings, because he had confidential information about government contracts.  See NYTimes, Qwest Chief Knew U.S. Fiber Optic Needs .