Whether a major technology company built its rise through criminal conduct is the question now before a Brooklyn jury. A jury trial is the proceeding where civilian jurors, not a judge, hear evidence and deliver a verdict. The company is Huawei. Five years after its finance chief, Meng Wanzhou, was released from detention in Canada, the company itself goes on trial.
In plain terms: when an individual faces a criminal trial, the verdict attaches to that person. When a company is the defendant, the verdict attaches to the corporate entity. Meng Wanzhou was Huawei's finance chief during her detention in Canada. Her release came five years ago. What opens in Brooklyn is a case against Huawei as a company.
The question before the jury: was the company's rise built on crime? A panel of civilians in Brooklyn will now hear the evidence and decide.