Opinion ID: 657319
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence Regarding Rosenthal's Intent

Text: 39 Rosenthal's third claim is that the evidence produced at trial was insufficient for the jury to conclude that, in arranging the 1985 Tax Trades, Rosenthal acted because of or with the intent to influence Solomon's position as a pension fund manager. 40 It is well established that a defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence underlying a conviction bears a very heavy burden. United States v. Ragosta, 970 F.2d 1085, 1089 (2d Cir.) (citing United States v. Zabare, 871 F.2d 282, 286 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 856, 110 S.Ct. 161, 107 L.Ed.2d 119 (1989)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 608, 121 L.Ed.2d 543 (1992). A conviction will be upheld if, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the reviewing court finds that any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (emphasis in original and citation omitted). The jury must have [had] a full opportunity to determine credibility, weigh the evidence, and draw justifiable inferences of fact, ... and all permissible inferences must be construed in favor of the government. United States v. Pitre, 960 F.2d 1112, 1120 (2d Cir.1992) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The evidence need not eliminate every possible theory of innocence, and the reviewing court must consider pieces of evidence not in isolation, but in conjunction. See Ragosta, 970 F.2d at 1090. 41 Rosenthal contends that the prosecution relied on the alleged evidence of Milken's intent to influence Solomon as proving Rosenthal's intent. Although Milken denied authorizing the 1985 Tax Trades for the purpose of inducing Solomon to do business with Drexel, he acknowledged that they were an account accommodation, and that Solomon was an unusual account. The jury could properly have found that Rosenthal shared Milken's desire to accommodate Solomon, especially considering that the evidence demonstrated that Solomon controlled pension funds worth approximately $2 billion and did a great deal of business with Drexel's High Yield Bond Department. Further inferences could be drawn from the fact that the overall business of Solomon's investment advisory company, SAM, had grown significantly while, at the same time, a significant portion of its business with Drexel--that part which involved the secondary trading of high yield bonds--had drastically declined. Drexel, long the pre-eminent leader in high yield bonds, found itself competing with an ever-larger array of rivals for Solomon's business. Finally, Solomon and Milken both testified that Rosenthal understood that the purpose of the 1985 Tax Trades was to generate personal losses for Solomon. Such an accommodation was likely to insure that Drexel would remain in Solomon's favor. We conclude that there was sufficient evidence presented to the jury from which it could conclude that Rosenthal acted with intent to influence Solomon in his position as a pension fund manager.