Judge allows third trial in board member insider trading case

Jim Mazzo, vice chair of the Board of Trustees

A federal judge allowed a third trial for an insider trading case involving Jim Mazzo, a Chapman board of trustees vice chair and donor, after previous hung juries led to two mistrials, according to documents provided to The Panther by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Since other arguments that Mazzo presented didn’t support dismissing the case and it hasn’t been overruled by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals, Andrew Guilford, U.S. district judge, will permit a third trial, he wrote in a May 1 judge’s order.

But Guilford questioned why the two previous jury decisions weren’t enough to enter a “not guilty” verdict for Mazzo.

Mazzo has been tried twice at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse in Santa Ana for insider trading charges, once in March 2017 and again in January – both of which ended with the jury unable to reach a unanimous verdict. In the first trial, the jury was split 8-4, with the majority of jurors in favor of convicting Mazzo, while the most recent trial ended with 10-2 in favor of acquitting the former CEO.

Insider trading is the illegal use of information that is available only to insiders of a company, shared with outside investors in order to make a profit in financial trading.

Jim Doti, Chapman’s president emeritus, testified in Mazzo’s defense during the January trial, saying that Mazzo has handled confidential information with integrity

President Emeritus Jim Doti testified in defense of Jim Mazzo Feb. 7. Illustration by Kali Hoffman

“Money does not buy my opinion,” he said during the February testimony.

When Doti testified in Mazzo’s defense during the first trial, he said he wasn’t sure if Mazzo would remain on the board of trustees if convicted, according to documents provided by the LA Daily Journal. As of May 6, Mazzo was still listed on Chapman’s website as a vice chair. As of May 6, Mazzo was still listed on Chapman’s website as a vice chair.

Doti declined to comment on the third trial, as he said he may serve as a character witness for a third time

Since Mazzo was neither acquitted nor found guilty in either trial, he can be tried again, based on the the double jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment.

In the January trial, prosecutors added a charge of lying in court regarding Mazzo’s testimony during the first trial, according to an indictment for the second trial.

The indictment asserts that Mazzo knowingly gave a false testimony on multiple occasions in late April 2017 when questioned about providing nonpublic information about his medical device company to a friend, former Angels player Doug DeCinces.

Mazzo is accused of providing information to DeCinces, a close friend at the time, about the rising stock prices of his company before an acquisition by a larger medical company. This caused DeCinces to profit by $1.3 million, said prosecuting attorney Jennifer Waier during the 2017 trial

DeCinces, who testified in February that Mazzo provided him with insider information, was convicted of felony insider trading charges in the first trial, according to the Los Angeles Times.

DeCinces testified that Mazzo informed him of merger talks before the deal was publicized, according to the Orange County Register.

If convicted, Mazzo could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million for this type of insider trading, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The documents did not say when the third trial will begin.