[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who is presiding over the Rajat Gupta insider-trading trial in Manhattan, needn't have cautioned jurors that they might become bored.  Just a day after his warning, bickering by prosecutor Reed Brodsky and defense lawyer Gary Naftalis prompted the judge to again ask the attorneys to lower the volume of their animosity. Just Doing What Each Does Best. Forget about the facts, Mr. Brodsky and Mr. Naftalis had enough to argue about.

Brodsky. During jurors' lunch break, lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brodsky complained to Judge Rakoff about the courtroom conduct of his adversary, Gary Naftalis.  Earlier in the day, he said he had heard Naftalis "loudly say to his team, 'Got him!'" after showing a document to a government witness, former trader Michael Cardillo.  Brodsky also said that, during cross-examination last week, Mr. Naftalis "gave a thumbs-up" to the gallery in Manhattan federal court.

Naftalis. In his defense, the veteran defense lawyer told Judge Rakoff that he did not remember making such a remark or gesture intentionally.  "I can't believe I said anything that was overheard by the jury."  Naftalis further complained to the judge about "objections" by the prosecutor, saying: "I thought it was wholly inappropriate for government counsel to get up and say, 'Hey, you didn't object -  you objected when I offered this (statement)'."

Cause for Alarm. On Tuesday, Judge Rakoff urged the lawyers to step up their performance, noting that the bulk of the evidence was asking jurors to view documents.  "We need to find a way to sharpen the presentation on both sides and get it more focused.  The next day, the judge's reprimand asked them to take it down, telling them their courtroom sparring wouldn't get them anywhere.

"I think we're down now to the very polite form of name calling, and that is not what I want to hear from either of counsel, who I respect tremendously.  It is not going to be helpful if we degenerate into a game of 'gotcha' or 'I can stick my tongue out more than you can."

For The Record. FYI, Defendant Rajat Gupta, 63, is accused of providing Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam with boardroom secrets between March 2007 and January 2009 while serving as a director of Goldman Sachs Group and Procter & Gamble.  Mr. Gupta pled not guilty in this trial that began 5/21/12, and  is expected to last 3 weeks. The case: USA v Gupta, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-907.   For further details, go to [Reuters, 5/30/12].