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The Latest Pre-Trial Events in the Lay/Skilling Case
Yesterday was not a particularly good day for Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, that is if one uses wins and losses in pre-trial motions as the criteria. The Houston Chronicle reports here that U.S. District Judge Sim Lake denied their motion to dismiss the charges. (See Ken Lay’s Website here) The court found no evidence…
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Supreme Court Rejects “Honest Services” Case
The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in a racketeering case involving mail fraud’s honest services provision. (See Chicago Tribune here). Betty Loren-Maltese was the President of the Town of Cicero, Illinois, appointed upon the death of husband, who died from cancer. She was charged with RICO conspiracy and five counts of mail and wire…
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New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens Game
A link to sports is not new to white collar crime. There have been a fair number of cases that bring in sporting events. (e.g.horse-racing – Operation BOPTROT). So it is not surprising to see a count of the Abramoff Plea discussing a game, in this case the New York Giants and the Baltimore Ravens…
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The Collateral Consequences of the Abramoff Plea
The consequences of the Abramoff Plea are felt not only in the political community, but also in the legal sphere. The NYTimes reports here on the impact of this plea on the law firm of Greenberg Traurig. Although one can find no mention of Jack Abramoff on the website of the law firm here, the…
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The Direct Consequences of the Abramoff Plea
It sounds like we may soon be seeing the direct consequences of the Abramoff plea. Will it include publishers of magazines (see here)? Will it include Tom DeLay (see Seattle Times here)? Will others, like House Speaker Dennis Hastert be able to distance themselves from Abramoff (see Chicago Tribune here)? What will be the effect…
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Arrest in Oil-for-Food Program
CNN reports here of an arrest in Houston of an individual charged with accepting two (2) million dollars in the Oil-for-Food Program. This individual is part of a group facing charges in New York as part of this humanitarian program. (see here) An inquiry into the Oil-for -Food Program produced a report that demonstrated many…
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Collateral Consequences of an Indictment – DeLay
Indictments are mere charges against a person, and the person is presumed to be innocent. But the consequences of such charges can ruin a person. In the case of poorer individuals, it often means that they have no counsel and can remain in jail until such time as they appear in court and counsel is…
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Former Wal-Mart Executive Likely to Plead Guilty to Fraud and Tax Charges
The saga of Thomas Coughlin, former vice chairman of Wall-Mart and hunting buddy of company founder Sam Walton, appears to be coming to a close with reports that he will enter a guilty plea to wire fraud and tax evasion charges. The issue first flared in March 2005, when Coughlin was removed from the board…
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Rhode Island Hospital and Three Executives Charged in Corruption Prosecution
Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island, and thee executives were charged in a 38-count indictment with secretly paying state Senator John Celona $260,000 in order to advance the medical center’s interests in the state legislature. The individual defendants are Robert Urciuoli, the chief executive of the medical center (currently on leave), Frances Driscoll,…
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Cert Granted to Consider Whether Denial of Counsel of Choice Requires Automatic Reversal
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 399 F.3d 924 (8th Cir. 2005), an Eighth Circuit decision holding that the improper denial of the right to counsel of choice by the district court required automatic reversal of the conviction without determining prejudice to the defendant. The district court found that defendant Gonzalez-Lopez’s…
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