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Petters jury selection is postponed again
It's now set to begin Wednesday; the judge didn't explain the delay.
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Jury selection for the trial of Wayzata businessman Tom Petters was postponed Friday for a second time and is now scheduled to begin Wednesday.
The new date was included in a one-sentence order from U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle.
The delay was announced just as lawyers for the government and Petters continued their skirmish over a potential witness who is a convicted felon and once was in the federal witness protection program. Petters' attorneys contend his testimony is critical to their client's defense.
Jury selection originally was set for last Thursday but was delayed for scheduling issues. Kyle's order does not give a reason for the second postponement. Petters' attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.
If 12 jurors and four alternates are selected early enough on Wednesday, opening statements by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Dixon and Petters' defense attorney Jon Hopeman will likely be delivered, followed by live witnesses in subsequent days.
The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.
In court filings Friday, attorneys for Petters accused the U.S. attorney's office of trying to hide "under a cloak of secrecy" by restricting what can be said about the potential witness, whom the Star Tribune has identified through court documents and other public records as Larry Reynolds, a Los Angeles businessman who pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering conspiracy in connection with the Petters case.
Without identifying Reynolds by name, Petters' attorneys, Jon Hopeman and Paul Engh, argue in their brief that they independently learned elements of Reynolds' past. They said the government should not be able to stop them from using that material.
"What we have already learned undermines the government's request that we unlearn what they refused to disclose in the first place," their brief states.
The government's motion to amend a protective order concerning Reynolds' former participation in the witness protection program was filed under seal, with just a vague description filed in public.
The Star Tribune objected to the secrecy surrounding the government's request to amend the protective order and said it shares Petters' concerns about the government's efforts to have Kyle sign a secret protective order, "which results in a secret trial." The newspaper asked that the government publicly file its motions with sufficient information to understand the nature of the dispute, and it asked that any arguments be made in open court.
Petters faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering for orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $3.5 billion and lasted more than a decade.
David Phelps • 612-673-7269
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