Supreme Court of California

A seller who believes reasonably and in good faith that a security is exempt is not guilty of the crime of unlawful sale of an unregistered security. A defendant's reasonable good faith belief that a security is exempt from registration is an affirmative defense on which the defense bears the initial burden of proof.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/06/2006
• Published 02/06/2006

Judges

• KENNARD, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Douglas G. Benedon, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Benedon & Serlin and Gerald Serlin, Woodland Hills, for Defendant and Appellant Javier O. Salas., Neil Rosenbaum, under appointment by the Supreme Court, San Francisco, for Defendant and Appellant Stephen C. Patrick., Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Thien Huong Tran, Victoria B. Wilson, Donald E. De Nicola and Lance E. Winters, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent., Steve Cooley, District Attorney (Los Angeles), Curt Livesay, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Peter Bozanich, Assistant District Attorney, William Woods and Richard A. Lowenstein, Deputy District Attorneys, as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.