By J. DeVoy
Xbiz reports that the government’s case, failing to meet its burden of proof on any of the counts against Stagliano, has been dismissed.
The trial, pending before Judge Richard Leon in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, was dismissed on the defense team’s Rule 29 motion at the end of the government’s case. And what a team it was: H. Louis Sirkin, lead counsel for John Stagliano Inc. and Paul Cambria Jr., lead counsel for Stagliano. A solo practitioner, Allan Gelbard, represented Evil Angel Productions. Davis Wright Tremaine partner Robert Corn-Revere served as local counsel. (source.)
The proceedings came to a jarring halt when the government’s star witness, an FBI agent, impeached his own credibility while calling the judge’s and prosecutor’s into question. From that point onward, the government could not surmount the burden of proof it bore under the constitution.
Beginning in 2008, the government’s case against Stagliano accused him of enough crimes to put him in prison for more than 30 years. Despite running Evil Angel for two decades, the case against Stagliano rested upon mere minutes of footage, with the remainder of his natural life potentially in jeopardy.
UPDATE: Additional coverage available at AVN, courtesy of Mark Kernes.
