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by Mike Caswell

Andrew Left, the activist short-seller on trial in California for a two-year scheme to manipulate several Canadian and U.S. listings, has asked the judge to acquit him before the trial is complete. He says that the evidence presented by the prosecution is far from sufficient to convict him of securities fraud. He claims that submitting the case to the jury would "have a profound chilling effect on truthful, non-misleading speech that provides a value to the public markets and the investor community."

The request from Mr. Left, 54, comes on the eighth day of a jury trial for a case in which prosecutors claim that he misused his investment publication, Citron Research, to generate $20-million in trading profits. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He frequently traded against his own recommendations, taking advantage of unsuspecting investors who followed his advice, the government says. The stocks that he targeted included TSX Venture Exchange listings Cronos Group Inc. and Namaste Technologies Inc.

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