Jury selection begins in ex-Goldman programmer code theft trial

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) – Jury selection kicked off on Monday in the trial of a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc computer programmer accused of stealing code from the investment bank.

Sergey Aleynikov, a dual citizen of Russia and the United States, is charged with stealing computer code as he prepared to leave Goldman for a high-frequency trading startup in Chicago.

Opening arguments are expected later this week in the long-running case, which inspired Michael Lewis’ best-selling book “Flash Boys.”

Aleynikov, 45, first arrested by federal agents in 2009, was already tried and convicted in federal court.

An appeals court threw out the conviction in 2102, saying the anti-espionage law did not apply and setting him free after about a year.

About six months later, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance revived the case in state court and charged him in August 2012 with unlawful duplication of computer-related material.

Aleynikov faces 1-1/2 years to four years in prison if convicted on state charges. His first sentence was eight years.

The case is People v. Aleynikov, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 60353/2012.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Ted Botha)