De Lorean case will go to jury
Former sports car maker John Z. De Lorean's fraud and racketeering trial
moved with the speed of a Model-T Ford down a rutted country lane until
his lawyer last week called a single witness and rested the defense.
After closing arguments, scheduled for today in Detroit, U.S. District
Judge Julian A. Cook Jr. was to order jurors to decide whether the former
General Motors Corp. vice president illegally siphoned $8.5 million of
investors' money from his sports car company before it failed.
The only defense witness called was an FBI agent who sat at the prosecutors'
table throughout the trial. De Lorean's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, grilled
agent Richard Eggleston for three days last week, his questioning punctuated
by numerous objections from prosecutors.
The government had spent five weeks presenting its case, including 27
witnesses and 4,000 pages of documents.
De Lorean, a former star executive at GM who parlayed life in the fast lane
into a car company all his own, did not testify. A 15-count federal indictment
last year charged De Lorean, 61, with stealing the $8.5 million from
De Lorean Research Limited Partnership.
Thursday, December 18, 1986
De Lorean found innocent
Jury clears maker of defunct sports car of racketeering, fraud
DETROIT - Former carmaker John De Lorean, accused of stealing millions of
dollars from investors in his defunct sports car business, was found innocent
yesterday of all charges of racketeering and fraud.
On the sixth day of jury deliberations, the former General Motors executive
proclaimed "Praise God" and embraced his defense lawyers when the verdict was
read in the U.S. District Court.
De Lorean, 61, in 1984 was acquitted of cocaine conspiracy charges after a
sensational trial in Los Angeles. He had been accused of stealing at least
$8.5 million from 140 investors in his car company, which briefly built
gull-winged cars in Northern Ireland.
De Lorean, who has said he intended to announce a new car venture if cleared,
shook his head in relief and wiped tears from his eyes as the jury foreman
responded "not guilty" for 15 findings.
The silver-haired De Lorean, who was indicted in September 1985 on charges
that he stole investors' money through an elaborate scheme involving money
transfers between European and U.S. banks and corporations, was defended by
flamboyant Los Angeles lawyer Howard Wietzman, who won the businessman's
acquittal on the drug charges.
