Joe Nacchio's defense attorneys filed a motion for a mistrial Monday, saying jurors should not have heard testimony last week from a former Qwest employee who said she upped her investment in company stock after receiving an optimistic e-mail from the then-CEO.

Sally Anderson told jurors she had been putting half her savings in Qwest stock but increased it to 100 percent after reading a September 2000 e-mail in which Nacchio said the company was raising revenue targets.

Under cross-examination, she indicated she was among a group of employees who later lost "a lot" of money when the stock went south. Court documents put that amount at more than $250,000, though the total was not discussed in open court.

Defense attorneys argued in Monday's filing that the testimony was improper and that similar so-called victims should not be allowed to testify.

Prosecutors said they will respond to the motion for mistrial in one or two days. U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham then will issue a ruling.

Anderson testified only about stock purchases in 2000, the defense noted, not 2001 - the time frame in which Nacchio is charged with 42 counts of insider trading. Defense attorneys say the only relevant "victims" are people who bought the stock that Nacchio sold.

Nottingham already has ruled that testimony about investors' losses is not allowed at trial. That's because to prove insider trading, prosecutors don't have to prove that Nacchio's sales negatively impacted anyone. They must show only that he sold while in possession of nonpublic, material information, and with the intent to defraud or cheat.

Testimony such as Anderson's, defense attorneys say, serves only to prejudice the jury against Nacchio.

burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5314