The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, after reviewing and finding the evidence against the defendants of wire fraud and other offenses to be overwhelming, denied a challenge to the trial court’s jury instructions, rejecting the idea that the defendant could have been convicted for accepting a gratuity rather than a bribe. The court also ruled that the trial court did not err in not providing a “good faith” instruction because this issue was covered in other instructions.
The Appellate Court found no plain error in the sentencing decision to give one defendant an enhancement because he was a public official in a high-level decisionmaking and found no error in a “vulnerable victim” enhancement.
The case is USA v. Walton and Johnson.