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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2010 > June > 24 > Entry
Supreme Court rules on ‘honest services’, impact to Fox trial unclear
A lengthy opinion handed down today, June 24, by the U.S. Supreme Court could impact charges against longtime Butler County politician Michael Fox and others facing fraud charges across the country.
Ruling in the case of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, the high court unanimously narrowed the scope of a federal “honest services” fraud law frequently used to go after white-collar crime suspects.
A trial for Fox — former state lawmaker, county commissioner and Children Services director — was postponed by a federal judge in March pending the outcome of the Skilling case. The court has scheduled a conference for Wednesday, June 30, to discus proceeding in the Fox case.
Fred Alverson, spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office, said it’s too early to know how the Supreme Court decision will affect the eight-count indictment against Fox.
“We’re reviewing it now…to determine what impact if any it might have on the charges pending against Mrs. Fox and (co-defendant Robert) Schuler,” Alverson said. Defense attorneys are also examining over the ruling.
“We don’t know what impact it’s going to have on Mr. Fox’s case,” said Aaron Herzig, one of Fox’s defense attorneys. “What it looks like is the statute (Fox is charged under) is not unconstitutional, but they have narrowed it.
“But how they narrowed it and what that’s going to mean for Mr. Fox’s case is (unclear),” Herzig said.
Fox and Schuler, a Columbus-area attorney, were charged in October 2009 with conspiring to improperly benefit off a contract to build Butler County’s fiber optics network.
Fox is accused of not properly reporting roughly $460,000 from Schuler and other vendors doing business with the county when Fox was a commissioner.
Fox is also charged with mail fraud for allegedly failing to disclose conflicts of interest in Ohio ethics disclosure statements he mailed each year from 2004 through 2007.
Schuler also is charged with perjury for alleged false testimony he gave to a federal grand jury on Oct. 1, 2008.
In their ruling Thursday, justices were unanimous in imposing limits on the use of the law, but left it to a lower appeals court to determine whether Skilling’s conviction should be overturned.
The “honest services” law has been criticized as vague, subjecting people to prosecution for mistakes and minor transgressions in the business and political worlds. Skilling asked that it be struck down as unconstitutional.
But the court, in an opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said prosecutors may continue to seek honest services fraud convictions in cases where they put forward evidence that defendants accepted bribes or kickbacks.
“Because Skilling’s misconduct entailed no bribe or kickback, he did not conspire to commit honest-services fraud under our confined construction” of the law, Ginsburg said. Three justices, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, would have found the law unconstitutional.
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Comments
By west chester
June 25, 2010 10:48 AM | Link to this
It certainly seems as though the Supreme Court clearly stated that prosecutors can seek fraud convictions from public officials who receive bribes or kickbacks. What was the $460,000 Mike and Bob? A reward for good government from a patriotic citizen?
By pw
June 25, 2010 11:37 AM | Link to this
Let’s face it. Fox was kicked out of the statehouse for ethics violations. He hasn’t changed a bit. The GOP gave him a job in Butler Co. Not surprising either. They are all in it together. I say keep digging and jail all of them. The GOP has gotten too big and therefore too corrupt in this county. Send them away.
By there's no tellin' where the money went"
June 25, 2010 1:05 PM | Link to this
The impact on the Fox trial is crystal clear - “bribes or kickbacks”. If it was “honest” (not a bribe/kickback) why was it a big secret (a secret he didn’t want the IRS to know about)?
By EthicsWatch
June 25, 2010 2:00 PM | Link to this
Thank goodness the Republican “skeletons in the closet” are going to start coming out in trial and plea bargaining before November. Butler County cannot afford more of the same.