Nos. 09-167 and 09-182

In the Supreme Court of the United States

ICHARD

CRUSHY

PETITIONER

NITED

TATES OF

MERICA

UGENE

IEGELMAN

PETITIONER

NITED

TATES OF

MERICA

ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION

LENA

AGAN

Solicitor GeneralCounsel of Record

ANNY

REUER

Assistant Attorney General

OHN

-A

LEX

OMANO

Attorney Department of JusticeWashington, D.C. 20530-0001(202) 514-2217

(I)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1.In

McCormick

United States

, 500 U.S. 257, 273(1991), the Court held that, to sustain Hobbs Act extor-tion convictions based on an official’s receipt of cam-paign contributions in exchange for official action, thepayments must be “in return for an explicit promise orundertaking by the official to perform or not to performan official act.” The question presented is whether peti-tioners’ convictions for honest-services mail fraud, brib-ery, and conspiracy are valid absent an instruction re-quiring the jury to find, and absent direct proof of, anexpress agreement to exchange campaign contributionsfor specific official action.2.Whether the jury could rationally conclude fromthe evidence that petitioner Siegelman obstructed jus-tice.

(III)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PageOpinion below.........................................1Jurisdiction...........................................2Statement............................................2 Argument...........................................14Conclusion..........................................32

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases:

American Commc’ns Ass’n

Douds