Grounds for mistrial motion in Rigas case?

The judge presiding in the fraud trial of the Rigas family on Monday said prosecutors had made "an egregious error" and a motion for a mistrial would be appropriate.

In questioning former Adelphia Communications Corp. director Dennis Coyle last week, the government had sought to show that Rigas-owned businesses incurred debt guaranteed by Adelphia, even though the businesses did not fulfill some financial requirements for such guarantees.

Coyle testified that management led him to believe any entity incurring debt under the arrangements had to meet standards on leverage and operating cash flow. Individually, the Rigas-owned entities did not have sufficient operating cash flow to meet those standards.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

However, on Thursday Coyle conceded that publicly filed credit agreements covering the borrowing arrangements said that the tests applied collectively to all the businesses involved, including Adelphia, which had much greater operating cash flow.

On Monday, Coyle testified that he first realized Thursday that his understanding of how the tests worked was wrong.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

"The fact that the government made an egregious error is very unfortunate and would appropriately be dealt with on a motion for a mistrial," U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand told lawyers before jurors arrived in court Monday. He added that he was not suggesting what the outcome of such a motion would be.

Former Adelphia chairman John Rigas, two of his sons, and former Adelphia executive Michael Mulcahey face charges of fraud and conspiracy in an alleged effort to loot the company and mislead creditors, investors and the public. All four have pleaded not guilty.

John Rigas was not in court Monday. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for bladder-cancer treatment following an appointment there last week. He is expected to be out Tuesday as well.