| No search history |
Your feedback is extremely important to us and greatly appreciated.
Tell us what went wrong

08-1196 WEYHRAUCH V. UNITED STATES DECISION BELOW: 548 F.3d 1237 LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: WHETHER, TO CONVICT A STATE OFFICIAL FOR DEPRIVING THE PUBLIC OF ITS RIGHT TO THE DEFENDANT'S HONEST SERVICES THROUGH THE NON-DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL INFORMATION, IN VIOLATION OF THE MAIL-FRAUD STATUTE (18 U.S.C. §§1341 AND 1346), THE GOVERNMENT MUST PROVE THAT THE DEFENDANT VIOLATED A DISCLOSURE DUTY IMPOSED BY STATE LAW. CERT. GRANTED 6/29/2009 QUESTION PRESENTED: Whether 18 U.S.C. § 1346, by criminalizing denials of "the intangible right of honest services," mandates the creation by the federal courts of a federal common law defining the disclosure obligations of state government officials. LOWER COURT CASE NUMBER: 07-30339
The U.S. Supreme Court case Weyhrauch v. United States in 2009 involved Bruce Weyhrauch, a former member of the Alaska House of Representatives who was charged with honest services fraud for allegedly soliciting employment from an oil field service company while he was considering legislation that would affect the company's taxes. The issue at hand was whether, to convict a state official for depriving the public of its right to his honest services through non-disclosure or concealment of material information, it is necessary to prove that the defendant violated some disclosure duty imposed by state law. Initially, lower courts ruled against Weyhrauch but when appealed to the Supreme Court they vacated and remanded back down after ruling on another similar case (Skilling v United States) which clarified what constituted "honest services" fraud.
In the case of Weyhrauch v. United States, there was no formal dissenting opinion issued by any justice. The Supreme Court vacated and remanded the decision to a lower court without issuing full majority or dissenting opinions. However, it's worth noting that this case involved an interpretation of the federal honest services fraud statute and whether undisclosed self-dealing constituted a violation under this law even if state law did not require such disclosure. The Supreme Court later clarified in another case (Skilling v. United States) that honest services fraud is limited to cases involving bribes or kickbacks, which wasn't alleged in Weyhrauch's situation.