New York City lawyer Christopher Morvillo described the “electric” moment jurors handed down a rare not-guilty verdict in the federal trial of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch on a legal podcast last week — just days before both men went missing after a luxury yacht capsized off the coast of Italy. Lynch’s wife Angela Baraces, 57, who escaped before the boat sank, let out a scream and ran over from the courtroom benches to hug her husband after learning that he had been cleared, Morvillo told fellow defense lawyer David Oscar Markus on the “For the Defense” podcast. The whole defense side of the courtroom “erupted” when the jury foreman read out the “not guilty” verdict on conspiracy and wire fraud charges in San Francisco federal court on June 6, bringing a 12-year-long legal saga to a close.
“It was this electric moment. I’ve never seen anything like it in a courtroom before,” Morvillo recalled. “Grown people sobbing, hugging.
.. people clapping, it was remarkable.
” Lynch’s win is extremely unusual in federal criminal cases. Less than 1% of federal criminal cases ended in acquittal in 2022, according to the Pew Research Center. Morvillo said the day trial ended, they had a big party “that lasted into the small hours of the morning.
” “To have this vindication after all of these years was incredible,” Morvillo said. The celebrations continued with Lynch’s Italy trip aboard the 160-foot luxury sailboat — which was carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers when it sank off the coast of Porticello, Italy, when it was hit by a storm at sunrise Monday..
