[ by Larry Goldfarb ]

TThe legal case against Sergey Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs computer programmer is becoming a test in legal ingenuity.  Just to recap, Mr. Aleynikov was convicted in federal court of stealing computer code from Goldman, only to have the conviction reversed on appeal, which resulted in his release after spending a year in prison.

Now the Interesting Part. The Manhattan district attorney charged him with essentially the same violations, this time in state court, which led Mr. Aleynikov to file a lawsuit against Goldman to force the firm to pay for his lawyer.   The case was not considered double jeopardy because the original federal charges accused him of interstate transportation of stolen property and theft of trade secrets.  The state charges avoid the problem in the federal case because computer programs can be the basis for a prosecution under New York State laws prohibiting unlawful use of secret scientific material and unlawful duplication of computer related material.

Kevin Marino, Mr. Aleynikov's lawyer, plans to challenge the latest prosecution as a violation of the protection afforded defendants against double jeopardy, which prohibits a second prosecution for the same offense.  But figuring out the scope of double jeopardy is not easy.

The basic idea behind double jeopardy is deceptively simple: prosecutors should only get one chance to convict someone for a crime. But there is a significant loophole in that protection known as the "dual sovereignty" doctrine that permits different governments to pursue the same case.

So NYS is re-charging Aleynikov on similar charges and Mr. Aleynikov, because he is broke, is asking Goldman for legal fees.  Experts say both claims are legitimate.  Stay tuned.

For further details, go to [Dealbook, 10/1/12].