In the papers filed with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, Taubman’s lawyers said he was not given the opportunity during the trial to explain why he met a dozen times with former Christie’s International chairman Anthony Tennant during the time when the price-fixing occurred. The lawyers say the topics addressed in the meetings with Tennant were legitimate.
Taubman, who remains Sotheby’s controlling shareholder, was convicted in December of conspiracy to violate antitrust laws and was sentenced last month to a year and a day in prison and fined $7.5m. He is to report to prison on August 1.
Taubman appeals against conviction
In a second attempt to have his price-fixing conviction overturned, former Sotheby’s auction house chairman A. Alfred Taubman has asked an appeals court to reconsider his case, citing errors by the trial judge. “This was not a fair fight,” lawyers for the Bloomfield Hills multimillionaire said when filing the 95-page appeal document on May 21.
