Post-Skilling Remand Includes Spillover

The Third Circuit in United States v. Wright held that the Skilling decision requires an new trial in this case on the honest services fraud convictions and that "prejudicial spillover tainted their traditional fraud convictions."  The court stated:

"An honest services fraud prosecution for bribery after Skilling thus requires the factfinder to determine two things.  First, it must conclude that the payor provided a benefit to a public official intending that he will thereby take favorable official acts that he would not otherwise take.  Second, it must conclude that the official accepted those benefits with the intent to take official acts to benefit the payor."

The court also stated that, "[i]n light of Skilling, the jury should have been instructed on the bribery theory but not the conflict-of-interest theory." 

The defense counsel on this case were Lisa A. Mathewson, Peter Goldberger, Ellen Brotman, and William A. DeStefano.

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