[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Rajat Gupta was granted a Get Out of Jail Free card by Judge Jed Rakoff, who on Tuesday released the former Goldman director on bail until his appeal, set for next spring.  Mr. Gupta, 64, was convicted in June of leaking Goldman's boardroom secrets to his friend, former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.

A New Lease on Life. In the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, Mr. Gupta by-passed having to start serving his 2-year sentence on 12/8/13.  Mr. Rajaratnam was not so lucky: the same appeal court rejected his request to remain free on bail pending his appeal;  he continues to serve an 11-year prison term while his appeal remains undecided.

Mr. Gupta's appeal. In play is the government's use of the wiretaps in the trial.  Judge Rakoff allowed the jury to hear incriminating taped conversations involving Mr. Rajaratnam and his traders.  If the wiretaps hadn't been permitted into evidence, prosecutors would have had to rely on circumstantial evidence, including telephone bills and trading records.

What Mr. Gupta lawyers may argue:

• because the conversations were between Mr. Rajaratnam and his employees, Judge Rakoff should declare them inadmissible hearsay evidence, meaning that they were too unreliable to be used against Mr. Gupta
• Judge Rakoff erred in limiting testimony by Mr. Gupta's daughter about her father's deteriorating relationship with Mr. Rajaratnam

To date, Mr. Gupta, a Westport, CT, resident, has been free on $10 million bail since he was arrested in October 2011.  For his appeal, he has hired firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel who represented him and Seth Waxman, a partner at WilmerHale and a former United States solicitor general who has argued more than 50 cases before the United States Supreme Court.

For further details, go to [Dealbook, 12/4/12].