In a surprising development, the defense in the trial of former Dynegy trader Michelle Valencia and former El Paso trader Greg Singleton (previous posts here) on conspiracy and fraud charges relating to their submission of false gas trading data to trade publications rested without putting on any evidence, betting that they could persuade the jury during closing arguments that the government had failed to fulfill its burden of proving that Valencia and Singleton are guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The Chronicle’s Tom Fowler reports on the closing arguments in the trial here.
The defense strategy is risky, as Jamie Olis discovered when his trial defense team put on a bare bones defense during his trial. The jury in the Valencia and Singleton trial will begin deliberations today.