Overview
Steptoe's relentless pursuit of exculpatory evidence withheld by the government in the prosecution of Steptoe's client in an Iran sanctions criminal case continues to receive broad media coverage.
In July 2020, a judge in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York dismissed with prejudice the government's case against Ali Sadr, an Iranian-born, American-educated businessman who had been convicted by a jury in March.
In September, Judge Nathan ordered acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss to compel all line prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to read a blistering opinion she authored on the case and provide certification that they have done so. In the months that have followed, sensitive emails and texts between prosecutors within the US attorney's office in Manhattan have revealed the sense of panic and dread among prosecutors and their supervisors as the Sadr case collapsed.
More recently, on February 17, 2021, Judge Nathan issued an order pressing for a review by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, an ethics and integrity investigative unit, over what she described as the systemic nature of errors and apparent misconduct related to the case.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Steptoe partner Brian Heberlig, who co-led the case with Reid Weingarten, commented: "These disclosures expose the underbelly of a failed prosecution that never should have been brought."
In an interview with National Public Radio, Heberlig added: "The prosecutorial misconduct in this case has been shocking and disappointing. We applaud Judge Nathan's decision to fully expose this extraordinary saga to prevent it from happening again."
Listen to Heberlig's full interview at National Public Radio.
Read more on the latest developments in this case at the following:
Associated Press
Forbes
Law360
National Law Journal
New York Daily News
Wall Street Journal
