U.S. government criminal trial against Hytera delayed until February

For a second time, the scheduled beginning of the criminal-conspiracy trial against Hytera Communications has been delayed significantly, this time until Feb. 4—almost a full year after the original scheduled start date for the legal proceeding, according to a U.S. appeals court.

Judge John Tharp of the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Illinois this month granted a motion from Hytera Communications to delay the criminal, which was scheduled to begin on Oct. 1—a target starting date for the trial that was selected after the judge decided to delay the proceeding from its original Feb. 5 schedule beginning.

“The court finds that the ends of justice served by taking this action outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial,” according to Tharp’s minute entry about the matter.

Tharp has reserved two months to conduct the criminal-conspiracy trial, based on input from lawyers from Hytera Communications and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), which accused Hytera of conspiring to steal DMR trade secrets from Motorola Solutions in a 21-count indictment announced in February 2022. In April 2022, the DoJ identified seven individuals—all former Motorola employees who supposedly played a role in taking the DMR trade secrets and later worked for Hytera—who allegedly were also part of the conspiracy.

This criminal case is separate from the civil case that Motorola Solutions initiated in March 2017 against Hytera, although most relevant facts are the same. In the civil case, Hytera Communications was found guilty of building its DMR offerings for years with trade secrets and copyrighted software stolen from Motorola. A recent appeals-court ruling is expected to reduce the financial damages owed in the case, but Hytera Communications still will owe Motorola Solutions at least $407.4 million in the matter.

Hytera Communications sought the latest delay in the start date of the criminal trial in a July 3 motion, citing the fact that many lawyers the China-based LMR manufacturers wants to help defend the company in the criminal-conspiracy trial are busy defending Hytera in a contempt proceeding that is part of the longstanding civil case filed by Motorola Solutions.

“Denying Hytera the ability to have the lawyers best qualified to handle such a core part of the criminal case risks violating Hytera’s constitutional right to counsel of its choice, which is part of Hytera’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel,” according to the Hytera Communications motion.

This Hytera motion noted the fact that Judge Tharp decision to reschedule the criminal-conspiracy trial to Sept. 30—subsequently moved a day later, to Oct. 1—included the following language: “(NO FURTHER EXTENSIONS absent emergency circumstances).” [Editor’s note: the capitalization was part of Tharp’s minute entry] The scheduling issues for Hytera’s lawyers met this emergency standard, according to the company’s July 3 motion.

“Such an emergency, unfortunately, has arrived,” the July 3 motion states. “Hytera has repeatedly attempted to address these scheduling issues in the contempt proceedings, citing this Court’s January 2024 order and the problems Hytera faces as a result of the contempt scheduling.

“But the contempt proceedings are on a separate track and are proceeding in a manner that will not permit Hytera’s civil legal team to meaningfully participate in the criminal trial and trial preparations.”

Motorola Solutions this week filed its initial briefs regarding the civil contempt proceeding, which is examining whether the District Court Judge Martha Pacold should hold Hytera Communications in contempt of a royalty order by selling its H-Series DMR products without paying royalties to Motorola Solutions. Hytera officials have long claimed that the H-Series radios do not use any of the trade secrets or copyrighted software that have been at the heart of the seven-year civil dispute between the companies.