Category Archives: Reversal

Winning the Hard Way

Posted on February 8, 2018 by

The hardest appeal to win is one based on insufficiency of the evidence. It argues that “the jury got it wrong.” Courts of appeal do not look kindly upon this argument, not only because it forces the court to dig … Continue reading →

Posted in Appeal, Conspiracy, Health care fraud, Reversal | Leave a comment

The Best Sentence in the McDonnell Decision

Posted on July 12, 2016 by

Like most defense attorneys, I welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision in the McDonnell case.   The Court vacated former Governor McDonnell’s convictions for Hobbs Act extortion and honest services fraud and remanded the case to the Fourth Circuit for further findings. … Continue reading →

Posted in Appeal, Public Corruption, Reversal | 1 Comment

Commercial Negotiation Tactics Are Not Fraud: Seventh Circuit Limits Scope of the Wire Fraud Statute

Posted on May 19, 2016 by

The federal wire fraud statute is incredibly broad. In this era of non-stop email and texts, it’s hard to imagine a white collar case that doesn’t implicate it. For the most part, courts have been reluctant to limit its reach. … Continue reading →

Posted in Appeal, Reversal, Wire Fraud | Leave a comment

Identity Theft Statute Narrowed — A Little Bit

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

In recent years, the government has increasingly prosecuted individuals under the federal aggravated identity theft statute. This increase may be from the legitimate increase in identity theft but it may also result from the government’s realization that the statute’s mandatory … Continue reading →

Posted in Appeal, Health care fraud, Identity Theft, Reversal | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Brady Win for a Defendant–Finally (and Some Tips to Get Brady Material)

Posted on March 26, 2015 by

The conviction and sentence of a man in California were recently vacated when it was discovered that the government had improperly withheld exculpatory material from his defense team at trial. We read a lot of stories about the failures of Brady … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy, Discovery/Brady, Reversal | 2 Comments