Securities & Exchange Commission v. Gowrish

MEMORANDUM

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought a civil enforcement action against Vinayak Gowrish alleging three counts of insider trading in violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the SEC and the district court imposed civil penalties. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.

1. Due process

Gowrish argues that due process requires a new trial because (1) he was denied access to the medical file of an SEC witness, Pascal Vaghar; (2) the SEC elicited impermissible testimony from another witness, Adnan Zaman; and (3) the SEC vouched for Vaghar during closing arguments.

Gowrish did not make a timely request for Vaghar’s medical records, and the district court’s enforcement of the discovery schedule is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Nascimento v. Dummer, 508 F.3d 905, 909 (9th Cir.2007). Gowrish provides no excuse for failing to meet the deadline and the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying his untimely request. See id. After the district court ordered production of the documents prior to the remedy phase, it concluded that the…