Sheldon Silver Convicted Of Corruption Again -- This Time It Should Stick

The Supreme Court's decision to let Bob McDonnell off the hook didn't save Silver.

(Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Sheldon Silver was one of the most powerful politicians in New York State for decades. Now, he’s been convicted on federal corruption charges, twice.

Silver was initially convicted on corruption charges in 2015. But that conviction was thrown out in the wake of McDonnell v. U.S. That’s the case where the Supreme Court made it much harder to convict public officials for bribery by narrowing what constitutes an “official act” in consideration for a bribe or a kickback.

In light of the ruling, the jury instructions in Silver’s initial trial were deemed too broad. Silver’s conviction was thrown out, but federal prosecutors decided to re-try him.

And they convicted him, again. From the New York Times:

Mr. Silver’s retrial was widely watched as a test of the government’s ability to prosecute official corruption under the narrower definition. But from the outset, prosecutors this time seemed to hold an upper hand: The original verdict was only thrown out because the judge’s jury instructions were too broad, as defined by the Supreme Court decision.

The retrial in Federal District Court in Manhattan seemed to move at double speed: Instead of stretching over one month, as the first trial had, the second trial was completed in two weeks, as prosecutors quickly made their case that Mr. Silver, 74, had obtained the illicit payments. In return, prosecutors said, Mr. Silver took a series of official actions that benefited a cancer researcher at Columbia University and two real estate developers in New York…

Mr. Silver sat impassively as the jury forewoman announced the verdict, which came at the end of the first full day of deliberations. His lawyer, Michael S. Feldberg, said he planned to appeal, citing “multiple legal issues.”

I disagreed with the Court’s decision in McDonnell, because I generally think that were should be expanding the scope of what constitutes corruption rather than limiting it. But the success of this trial at least means that we can still prosecute obvious corruption.

Sponsored

Next up, Dean Skelos. Skelos was also convicted on corruption charges, and his conviction was also thrown out in the wake of McDonnell v. U.S. His retrial is scheduled to start in June.

Sheldon Silver Is Convicted in 2nd Corruption Trial [New York Times]


Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

Sponsored