Although Marylin Star, aka Kathryn Gannon is a household world on the pocket pool circuit, jurors in the upcoming insider trading trial of her alleged boyfriend, James McDermott, former chief executive of investment bank Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. are unlikely to hear many details of her porno career.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood last Friday issued a "tentative" ruling limiting what prosecutors may say about Gannon's work. McDermott is accused of giving inside tips about pending mergers to Gannon, who prosecutors say earned $88,135 in illegal trades.
"That it was an affair, that is was intimate, yes," Wood said, allowing evidence of McDermott's and Gannon's alleged relationship. "But not what her occupation was."
Trial in the case is scheduled to begin next month. New Jersey businessman Anthony Pomponio, who also is alleged to have had an affair with Gannon and to have traded on McDermott's tips, will stand trial with McDermott.
Gannon has been indicted in the case, too, but she is a fugitive believed to be in her native Canada. At last Friday's hearing, prosecutors urged Wood to admit evidence about Gannon's background.
"The jury may properly infer that an exotic dancer and adult film actress is unlikely to have had an independent basis for arriving at the pattern of trading that is demonstrated in Gannon's account," prosecutors said in court papers.
Wood said evidence of Gannon's occupation might suggest that McDermott and Pomponio had engaged in "sleazy" conduct and could harm their efforts to defeat the securities charges.
Wood offered an alternative way to describe Gannon at trial. "A dancer and an actress," Wood suggested. The judge said she would issue a definitive ruling later this month.
The judge also is weighing whether prosecutors may introduce evidence that Keefe Bruyette cancelled its planned initial public offering after McDermott told the board that a "friend" was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
