May 19, 2013
A federal judge in Birmingham has thrown out more charges against Richard Scrushy. Judge Karon Bowdre today dismissed obstruction of justice and also the second of three Sarbanes-Oxley charges against the fired HealthSouth CEO in his corporate fraud trial.
Bowdre said prosecutors had not proved any, "overt acts" of a crime.
Bowdre is hearing arguments on whether to dismiss more than a dozen additional charges against Scrushy, including ten counts of money laundering.
Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley law in 2002 amid a wave of corporate frauds, and Scrushy in 2003 became the first CEO charged under the law. He was accused of three violations under the act.
But the judge threw out one of the three Sarbanes-Oxley charges after the prosecution rested, and her decision today leaves only one of the charges for jurors to consider: false certification of financial results in August 2002.
Scrushy still is charged with conspiracy and multiple fraud counts.
Jury deliberations are set for Tuesday after closing arguments on Monday.
