Joe Bruno Appeal Denied

An appeal filed by Former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has been rejected by The United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit. This decision by the court now allows prosecutors to retry him for thief of honest services.

The federal appellate court overturned Joe Bruno's conviction and rejected his request to bar federal prosecutors from being able to retry him.

According to Wikipedia, the definition of Honest Service Fraud is as follows:  Honest services fraud is generally more easily proven in the public sphere than in the private, because honest services fraud by public officials can include most unethical conduct, whereas honest services fraud by private individuals only includes some unethical conduct. Federal courts have generally recognized two main areas of public-sector honest service fraud: bribery (direct or indirect), where a public official was paid in some way for a particular decision or action, and failure to disclose a conflict of interest, resulting in personal gain.

In 2009,  Joe Bruno the former Senate Majority Leader was charged with eight counts of honest services fraud.  After a month long trial, he was acquitted of five counts, convicted of two and a mistrial was declared on the remaining one count.