Blogging the Bear Stearns Trial: I Love You, Man

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Matthew Tannin's eyes moistened and his face reddened as Ralph Cioffi's lawyer, Dane Butswinkas, read an excerpt of the infamous email note that Tannin wrote to Cioffi on April 22, 2007, before the collapse of the funds they managed. Here's the excerpt expanded:

'In January of 2003 I excitedly accepted your offer to become your partner. While you may have had a fully fleshed idea of where you thought we were going back then, I did not. I knew only that I trusted and respected you and that I had come to love to work with you over [sic] (a feeling shared by just about everyone) - so I considered myself tremendously fortunate to have been given the opportunity you gave me.

'Over the past four years a lot has changed - and a lot has not. We have been very successful measured in almost any conceivable way. We have raised a lot of money, we've made a lot of money, we've hired a lot of good people--but, for me, most importantly--we have spent our time well--and time is the ONLY thing in this life which one can't ever get back.

'I'm not sure how you are feeling right now--deep down. I guess I'm not 100% sure how I'm feeling--deep down--either, but I think I'm feeling pretty damn good. I think that I'm feeling this way because I have absolutely no doubt that I've done the best possible job that I could have done. Mistakes, yep, I've made them--but they do not bother me as much as they did years ago. I have come to see that whatever my 'intelligence' or 'abilities' are--they are not substantially worse than ANY of the people we speak to, talk to or read. So--f--- it [expletive removed]--all one can do is their best--and I have done this.

'From my point of view--I would say the same is for you. Every so often I worry a bit that because you have been so spectacularly successful so far (in almost every way) you might be taking this opportunity to second guess yourself. Well, just in case you are--don't. At the end of the day I think we will both be able to look at all that has happened and all that we have done and learn from what has gone well as from what that hasn't. What a shame it would be for us not to take all we have learned and apply it going forward.'

Butswinkas read the second paragraph of the email, which may have helped humanize the defendants, Cioffi and Tannin. Prosecutors have called this section of Tannin's email 'a love letter from one conspirator to another.”

The government accuses Tannin, 48, and Cioffi, 53, of misleading investors about the health of their two hedge funds, which collapsed in July of 2007 and resulted in $1.6 billion in losses for investors.