Judge Delays Trial About Grasso’s Pay
New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer’s lawsuit to recover part of the $190 million Richard Grasso was paid as New York Stock Exchange chairman will be delayed until 2006 or 2007.
At a hearing in state court in Manhattan, Grasso’s lawyers Thursday were granted all of 2005 to take depositions. Attorney Gerson Zweifach said the defense’s plan was to take pre-trial testimony from about 60 people, many of them current and former Wall Street leaders who served as NYSE directors.
“Despite statements filled with bravado, they’re doing everything they can to delay this case,” Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp said Friday.
As evidence, Dopp pointed to last week’s decision by U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch rejecting requests by Grasso’s lawyers to move the suit to federal court. “First there was the effort to change the venue,” Dopp said. “Now they plan to depose every single person they can embarrass. The goal is to carry this on forever.”
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