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Supreme Court: Courts Cannot Bar Use of Untainted Assets to Mount Criminal Defense
In a decision of significant importance to the white-collar world, the United States Supreme Court held yesterday that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel extends to permit those accused of crimes to use their “untainted” personal assets to fund their defense. Put another way, this… Read More
Seventh Circuit Finds Clear Error on Loss Calculation in Trade Secrets Sentencing
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday found clear error in the sentencing of a quantitative finance professional who pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing and transmitting trade secrets. The defendant, twenty-eight year old Yihao Pu, stole expensive and proprietary high-speed securities trading software with… Read More
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry’s Indictment Dismissed as Unconstitutional
Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that the prosecution of former Texas Governor Rick Perry was as much an “oops” as his own slip that famously felled his 2012 Presidential campaign. The court remanded the case to the district court with orders to… Read More
Second Circuit Accepts Rajat Gupta’s Insider Trading Appeal
This week I spoke with Fox Business reporter Serena Elavia about the Second Circuit’s decision to grant a certificate of appealability in the Rajat Gupta insider trading prosecution. Gupta is the high-profile former McKinsey & Co. Managing Director and Goldman Sachs board member who was… Read More
Supreme Court Holds General Statute of Limitations is Not Jurisdictional Defense
It appears that not even this weekend’s colossal winter snowstorm could deter the Supreme Court from its business, today deciding several criminal cases on its docket. In addition to the landmark Montgomery v. Louisiana decision, which gives retroactive effect to Miller v. Alabama and will… Read More
Former Speaker Hastert Pleads Guilty in Hush-Money Case
This morning, former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert appeared in district court in Chicago and pled guilty to one count of violating bank reporting laws. Hastert’s defense counsel had “indicated two weeks ago that he was planning to plead guilty, though the details of the… Read More
Former Speaker Hastert Indicted: Structuring a Costly Cover-Up
Yesterday, the Department of Justice charged former House Speaker Dennis Hastert in an indictment stemming from his alleged agreement to pay an unknown individual $3.5 million “to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct” against that unknown person. According to the indictment, Mr. Hastert, a… Read More
General Petraeus Avoids Jail for Leaking Classified Information to Girlfriend
Yesterday, former CIA head and retired General David H. Petraeus was sentenced for leaking classified information about the war in Afghanistan to his biographer/mistress, Paula Broadwell. Broadwell published a biography about him in 2012, “All In: The Education of David Petraeus,” before the affair was… Read More
More Puritanical Punishment Courtesy of Utah: “White Collar Crime Registry”
This post was co-authored by White Collar Alert contributor, Erin Dougherty. Yesterday, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a new bill into law that creates a “Utah White Collar Crime Offender Registry” (the “Registry”). This Registry – which is the first of its kind relating to… Read More