Randy's Trial day 8/9

This is an email my sent during trial.

Last Friday, we heard from five lenders, one of whom was Randy's dad. He gave an excellent description of his working with the Fidelity platform and IRAs, many more details of the transaction and how no one foresaw the real estate market crash. The other lenders demonstrated a great deal of the coaching provided by the state.

Today, we heard from the state's expert witness, a securities registration analyst/enforcement officer who gave his opinion that the transaction was an "investment contract". There were a number of confusing and bothersome elements to his testimony... 

1) that securities laws are complex and complicated and someone needs a law degree and many years of experience to understand them,

 2) the laws themselves are vague to keep people from coming up with schemes in order to evade securities law in Oregon, 

3) to determine if something is an investment contract, one must look at the entire scheme and economic realities of the 'situation', 

4) when contacting the state's dept to inquire if a transaction is a securities or not, they will suggest contacting an attorney,.... BUT receiving legal advice from an attorney on a securities matter is not a defense if charged with a securities crime.

First, if the laws are so complex, how can the common person ore even slightly trained Investment Adviser know and understand the laws. Second, shouldn't the law be clear enough for members of the public to be on notice as to how to OBEY the law? Third, elements of an investment contract are so common in business, almost anything could be labeled a securities if the authorities wanted to charge someone, and finally, what we are experiencing is that if charged with a securities crime, consultation with an attorney, good faith, and mens rea (must have intent to commit a crime) do not apply to matters involving securities.

Derek Dunmyer, the contractor from Absolute General Contracting, the borrower that defaulted on the loan, testified for a short time this afternoon. He will continue on Tuesday, with the state wrapping up with two more lender testimonies and the main investigator. State's case should wrap up by Wed noon.

Randy received a bit of surprising news tonight. The expert witness for the defense has some concerns about elements of the "scheme", and he may not be helpful for the defense. It depends upon what Randy told the lenders. Please pray for Randy to have the ability to remember events, articulate them clearly, and speak honestly.