United States v. William Ruehle

FILED

FOR PUBLICATION SEP 30 2009

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-50161

Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 8:08-CR-00139-cjc-

v.

OPINION

WILLIAM J. RUEHLE,

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Cormac J. Carney, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted September 1, 2009 Pasadena, California

Filed

Before: FISHER, GOULD, and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Circuit Judge Richard C. Tallman

TALLMAN, Circuit Judge:

We here explore the treacherous path which corporate counsel must tread

under the attorney-client privilege when conducting an internal investigation to

advise a publicly traded company on its financial disclosure obligations. Defendant-Appellee William J. Ruehle is the former Chief Financial Officer

(“CFO”) of Broadcom Corporation, a California-based, publicly traded

semiconductor supplier that came under intense scrutiny for its suspected

backdating of company stock options. Following a…