[ by Howard Haykin ] Actually, it was a reprimand that U.S. Judge Jed Rakoff gave to a student at Cardozo Law School in New York.  During a break in the proceedings on Wednesday morning, a courtroom deputy asked the student, Benula Bensam, to participate in a private conference with Judge Rakoff and the lawyers. Student Explains the 'Lesson' She Got From Judge Rakoff. To outsiders, it was unclear what the brief discussion was about.  But in an interview outside of the courthouse, Ms. Bensam - a resident of Woodside, Queens - explained that she has been attending the Gupta trial.  Having taken a class in the federal rules of evidence this semester, she thought it would be interesting to attend a white-collar criminal trial.  Besides, she hadn’t landed a summer job, so watching the case would be a productive use of her time. In addition, Ms. Bensam said she sent 3 letters to Judge Rakoff about various evidentiary rulings that he made in the case, posing questions about some and disagreeing with others. During the sidebar with Judge Rakoff and the lawyers on Wednesday, Ms. Bensam said that the judge politely told her that she should not write him any more notes because it could create the perception that she was trying to influence the outcome of the case.  "I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong," she said.  "But now I know." Monday Afternoon Encounter with U.S. Marshalls. Prior to her meeting with Judge Rakoff, the student had another encounter with other government employees.  As the jury listened to testimony from Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, a U.S. marshal approached Ms. Bensam in the spectator’s gallery and asked her to leave the courtroom.  She said that several marshals took her into a room and accused her to trying to improperly influence the judge. With regard to that meeting, Ms. Bensam said, "I’m an optimistic person, and if you can’t get an education in one respect, there are other things to do." She added, "That was certainly not my intention," and "They were very aggressive and totally misconstrued what I was trying to do." BTW - About The Wednesday's Testimony. It was uneventful, with the government using witnesses to introduce dozens of documents into evidence.  As the court broke for lunch, Judge Rakoff described the session as "excruciating."   [Dealbook, 6/6/12]