There was a brief lull in the trial as the four defense teams each filed what are called Rule 29 motions, asking the judge to dismiss the case. Such motions—a common defense gambit at the mid- point of a trial—argue that the prosecution has failed to prove its case, even in the absence of any defense. Judge Nelson, in assessing them, was required to consider the evidence presented so far in the light most favorable to the prosecution—essentially, to assume that none of it would be disproven. If the defendants' guilt hadn't been proven beyond a reasonable doubt given that assumption, the judge could find them not guilty immediately. Rule 29 motions are largely pro forma exercises. Several lawyers I spoke to had never seen one succeed in a federal trial in their decades-long ca- reers. No one had reason to believe this case would be any differ- ent.

Judge Nelson ordered the lawyers to present oral arguments on the motions. Richman stood up to speak first. "Your Honor, in 1987, I became an assistant federal defender in the Boston office and I've been practicing criminal defense since then," he said. "And so it is with a fair number of data points that I say that I have never in my career seen such a complete failure of proof as exists in this case." The flaws in the case were fundamental: The government couldn't prove that email messages they'd relied on were even sent by Oz, much less provide a witness or document showing that he knew the operation was illegal. "It's not even clear exactly what it is that Ron, or Moran Oz, did," Richman said. "We know that he worked for the company. We know that he had something to do with the pharmacies. He participated in closing orders, negotiating prices. Occasionally he would contact a doctor. There is simply no evidence of criminal intent. To the contrary, the evidence is fairly unequivocal that this was a company that was trying to comply with the law."

McConnell's attorneys argued much the same: McConnell had never interacted with doctors or customers, and knew nothing about the drugs they were receiving. "The evidence does not even