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Peter Henning RIP
Peter Henning was an incredible writer, scholar, and teacher. Most of all to me – he was a good friend. In November of 2004, Peter Henning and I started this WhiteCollarCrimeProfBlog. He moved on to later write the White Collar Watch for the NYTimes, but we continued to co-author many a book on criminal law,
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Fifth Circuit Reverses Tax Counts
Last week in United States v. Pursley, the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded all counts of conviction against appellant Jack Pursley. Appellant had been charged with a Klein conspiracy and three tax evasion counts. The convictions were reversed because: 1) the trial court refused to give a requested instruction requiring the jury to find that
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Briefs Filed in Ruan and Kahn.
Last November, guest bloggers Eugene Gorokhov and Jonathan Knowles posted here about the Supreme Court's granting of certiorari in Ruan v. United States and Kahn v. United States, two federal Circuit Court of Appeals decisions that effectively eviscerate the scienter requirement in criminal cases charging physicians with illegal distribution of Schedule II drugs. There is a longstanding
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More on Elizabeth Holmes
The speculation now begins about where Elizabeth Homes will serve her sentence, what her sentence will be, and how "cushy" she will find things in confinement. The Bloomberg Law story is here. Her sentence is likely to be more substantial than the three years being predicted by anonymous experts in this story. Nevertheless, as a
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Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Convicted On 4 Of 11 Counts. And That Will Be Enough.
Here is the CNN story. The jury acquitted Holmes, the former CEO of blood-testing startup Theranos, on all 4 counts related to the alleged defrauding of patients. She was convicted on 4 counts related to defrauding of investors, including a conspiracy count. The jury hung on 3 additional investor fraud counts. There will be no
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Attorney Joshua Treem and Investigator Sean Gordon Acquitted On All Federal Charges
Congratulations are in order for Bob Trout and Noah Cherry of DC's Schertler Onorato Mead & Sears and to Dan Goldstein on the 12-28-21 federal district court acquittal of their client, longtime Baltimore criminal defense attorney Joshua Treem. Treem had been accused of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and related charges in connection with
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Three New Opinions on the Meaning of Corrupt Obstruction
Three federal district court opinions on the meaning of "corruptly" obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, under 18 U.S.C. Section 1512 (c)(2), have been issued in the past month. Each case is from a different federal district judge in the District of Columbia. Although each case pertains to the actions of alleged participants in
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The Eastman Letter and the Fifth Amendment
Here is the Eastman Letter to January 6th Select Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson from Eastman's attorney Charles Burnham, invoking Eastman's Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination and raising other issues as well. The letter is in response to a Committee subpoena for Eastman's testimony and documents. Burnham's letter leaves open the question of whether Eastman
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No One Will Be Prosecuted for Plausibly Invoking the Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination at the January 6th Select Committee
Anyone who regularly practices white collar criminal defense knows how easy it is to successfully invoke the Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination at the grand jury and trial stages of an investigation. Ohio v. Reiner, 532 U.S. 17 (2001) and a number of Supreme Court cases preceding it establish that the privilege protects the innocent
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Man Bites Dog. Hell Freezes Over. Third Circuit Reverses Section 1001 Conviction Based on Government’s Failure to Prove Materiality.
Need I say more? It is a truism that materiality is an exceedingly easy element to prove in a prosecution brought under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001. It is even easier to sustain on appeal. But in U.S. v. Joseph Johnson, the Third Circuit held that the government failed to prove materiality under 18 U.S.C. Section
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