Another Blow To SEC As Court Rejects SEC’s Request to Bar Amici and Attorney Deaton from Proceedings in Ripple Lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres has denied the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request to revoke Amici Curiae’s status. 

The court also denied the SEC’s move to have Amici’s lawyer; attorney John Deaton barred from participating in further proceedings of the lawsuit. 

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP BREAKING: Judge Torres denies SEC's Motion to Revoke amici status and bar @JohnEDeaton1 from further proceedings. Amici can't participate in expert challenge now but may file application to brief concerns with SEC's expert at summary judgment pic.twitter.com/fGVf6ZvQma

— James K. Filan ???? 106k (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) July 26, 2022

It can be recalled that on October 4, 2021, the court granted Movants, which consists of six individual XRP holders, to act as Amici Curiae and participate in certain legal briefings in the case as approved by the court. 

Earlier this year, the movants through attorney Deaton, requested leave to file an Amicus brief regarding a motion to exclude one of SEC’s experts. 

Brawl Over Amici Participation in Upcoming Daubert Challenge

Amici’s request to participate in the upcoming Daubert challenge did not sit well with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The federal agency objected to the request, asking the court to not only deny the motion but to ban Movants and Amici from participating in further proceedings in the lawsuit. 

The SEC’s request sparked reactions from Ripple and Amici’s attorney, with both parties asking the court not to heed the agency’s call. 

Judge Torres’ Ruling

Interestingly, the court is not in any mood to have Amici and their attorney threw out of the case as their assistance may be needed in the latter stages of the lawsuit. 

However, Judge Torres noted that the court would not benefit from Movants’ assistance in evaluating whether the SEC’s expert is qualified. 

“Here, the court finds that it would not benefit from movants’ assistance in evaluating the qualifications of the SEC’s expert,” an excerpt of Judge Torres’ ruling reads. 

While the judge in charge of the lawsuit does not believe Amici’s contributions will be needed to evaluate the qualifications of the SEC’s expert, she noted that their assistance will be beneficial during the briefing on dispositive motions.  

“Movants may file an application to brief their concerns regarding the SEC’s expert and other relevant and helpful matters, concerning the parties’ contemplated motions for summary judgment,” Judge Torres said. 

Attorney Deaton Blasted the SEC and Hinman

Yesterday, attorney Deaton bashed SEC for requesting that the court bar him from further proceedings in the Ripple lawsuit. 

Attorney Deaton noted that he has not committed a crime that is capable of removing him from participating any further in the lawsuit. 

He slammed the SEC for the way it has conducted itself throughout the lawsuit, especially the agency’s continuous double standard practice. 

Additionally, he also seized the opportunity to bring the court’s attention to William Hinman’s conflict of interest during his tenure as the SEC’s former director of Corporate Finance.

As TheCryptoBasic reported earlier, Hinman was still having a series of meetings with his former employer Simpson Thatcher while he was heading the SEC’s Corporate Finance division. 

Hinman’s affiliation with Simpson Thatcher, a legal firm linked to Ethereum, is believed to have contributed to his June 18, 2018 speech, where ETH was declared as a non-security.