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- The jury in Andrew Left’s fraud trial sent out a note to the judge.
- The Citron Research founder was not on-site, and the judge was not happy.
- She told the defense she would put him in custody until the verdict if it happened again.
A federal judge blasted short-seller Andrew Left for being AWOL on Monday as the jury deliberated in his securities fraud trial — threatening to take him into custody if it happens again.
The scolding came after the jurors, who started deliberating last week, sent out a note to the judge.
US District Judge Virginia Phillips berated Left’s legal team when she realized he was not in the Los Angeles courthouse to hear the contents of the note.
His attorneys said he was 20 minutes away, and she pointed out that it had been 45 minutes since the note — which was to request read-back of a witness’ testimony — came in.
“If this happens again, I’m going to keep him in custody until we get a verdict. You can let him know that,” she said.
When Left arrived, Phillips upbraided him face-to-face.
“The jury waited an hour for you to arrive,” she said. “There’s no excuses for keeping the jury waiting like that.”
She ordered him to stay in the courthouse while the case is in session and said she would have US marshals hold him if he stepped out again.
Left, the founder of the influential Citron Research, is accused of deceiving investors and manipulating the market to make profits of more than $20 million.
Prosecutors say he issues reports and opinions about companies he had bet on, waited for his large social-media following to move the market, and then quietly closed his positions at a different price than the target price he publicized.
Left, who took the stand in his own defense last week, says his reports and predictions were accurate, that he believed what he was saying in his posts and never intended to mislead anyone.