It was an arduous way to win a case. Many have credited Arguedas' major courtroom success in June for client FedEx Corp. to her four-hour marathon of an opening defense statement to counter the U.S. government's criminal drug trafficking conspiracy allegations against the Tennessee-based shipping titan.
FedEx was in league with internet pill mills in trafficking illegal prescription drugs from online suppliers to customers, prosecutors claimed in a first-of-its-kind case. Arguedas argued that FedEx actually aided federal drug agents investigating illicit pharmacies. Her client faced up to $1.6 billion in penalties. Rival package delivery giant UPS Inc. had already settled with the feds for $40 million. U.S. v. FedEx Corp., 14-cr-3080 (N.D. Cal., filed July 17, 2014).
"I drafted that opening for six months," Arguedas said. "We had the case for five years, and my statement was the product of a detailed investigation." Still, she added, "It was hard to talk for four hours." Because Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer of San Francisco heard the case without a jury, she had no one to play to but the bench. "It was just me and him," she said. "Eye to eye was really daunting."
At least she had visuals. "We spent a lot of time and effort on graphics," she said. "They served me as cue cards. The judge and I could both look over at the screen." There was a list of topics, a timeline and blowups of the evidence. "They were sequenced in a very engaging way," she said. "I never felt like I lost the judge. I told him I'm not going to repeat evidence, and I'm not going to tell him anything that wasn't important."
Arguedas had a recurring theme, related to her six key ex-law enforcement witnesses. "I pointed out that they had very important things to say on FedEx's behalf and, one by one, I noted that the government was not planning to call them to the stand. At one point, Judge Breyer looked at the government and said, 'Why aren't you calling them? I want to hear them.'" Arguedas piled on: "I said they're the Department of Justice and they should be interested in justice. My opening and those six witnesses were the beginning and end of the case." The lead prosecutor eventually said she would call two of the six retired Drug Enforcement Administration officials who had instructed FedEx to continue doing business with an alleged co-conspirator to further their federal investigation.
After less than a week in trial, and before the two took the stand, prosecutors abruptly abandoned the case and dismissed all charges. Arguedas' client walked. "The court concludes that the defendants are factually innocent," Breyer said. Arguedas' takeaway: "It was a fiasco for justice, but it was really fun."
— John Roemer
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