Nacchio update: Top court filing likely, SEC suit on track

It still appears likely that former Qwest Communications CEO Joe Nacchio and his lawyers will pursue a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court asking for a review of Nacchio's insider trading conviction. The Denver Post writes that the filing may come by this Friday, which would be just three days before Nacchio is due to report to prison in Pennsylvania. The filing reportedly will focus on the broad legal issues related to an exclusion of an expert witness for the defense in the original trial, and not about allegations that Nacchio has made about the federal government denying Qwest key business deals during Nacchio's tenure because the telco refused to participate in the federal wiretapping program. 

Meanwhile, Nacchio and other former Qwest executives saw their request to have a civil fraud case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission denied. Nacchio's allegations about the federal government have been central to this case, and the defendants asked for a dismissal after the government invoked its "state-secrets" privilege to withhold information about its business dealings.

For more:
- BusinessWeek has this story on the SEC suit
- The Denver Post has this coverage on the Supreme Court filing

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