These Three Defendants Should Be Found Guilty

Those of us who have dealt with Tyco (TYC - commentary - Cramer's Take) have to cheer for the prosecution. Those of us who knew the way Credit Suisse First Boston worked under Frank Quattrone are rooting for the prosecution. And those of us who understand that lying to the prosecution is a real no-no want sincerely for the prosecution to convict Martha Stewart.

I put all three of these high-profile cases together because, while many of you think that I must be anti-defendant, nothing could be further from the truth. I just worked on Wall Street at a time when this mischief was happening and I am sick of it all.

Of course, with the excellent lawyering that will be done on behalf of all three cases, you are going to have doubts about the prosecutions' cases. How can you not? When you choose to confuse, you can confuse.

Let me therefore strip the cases down to what I know about what happened on Wall Street during this period. This will be the no-nonsense reader's guide to the real cases that are at work here.

First, Frank Quattrone. Look, Quattrone ran CSFB. He was a Milken-like figure. You don't get paid $120 million to sit on your butt and do nothing. The idea that the firm's general counsel, David Brodsky, had to define exactly what investigation was going on at what time in order for Quattrone to otherwise "preserve" emails is ludicrous. The idea that Quattrone was trying to do anything but send a signal that all emails should be destroyed when the firm turned on him is equally ludicrous.

Here's what you need to know: When someone is under investigation, and Quattrone's outfit was targeted the whole time by the feds, that someone better preserve everything. The idea that Quattrone was sending out email talking about documents at all is a travesty. That's why the prosecution wants this one. Sure, this Brodsky fellow seems slippery and sure lawyer John Keker made him look stupid. But the case rests on a simple precept: I, like everyone else who traded heavily with First Boston, knew that they were coming for Quattrone. He knew it, too. The best way to defeat the feds is to eliminate the email. That's what Quattrone stands accused of. That's obstruction. Guilty.

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James J. Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS by clicking here. While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column to [e-mail]. Listen to Cramer's RealMoney Radio show on your computer; just click here. Click here to buy Cramer's latest book, "You Got Screwed!" Click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict."