Conspiracy Theories - Issue Preclusion #1

I picked up this relatively new case, United States v. Thyfault, 579 F.3d 748 (7th Cir. 2009), decided August 26, 2009 dealing with issue preclusion from a not guilty verdict. Thyfault may be read or downloaded here. Of course, everyone knows that a defendant found not guilty cannot be retried on the specific charge. But, can the defendant be retried on a related count for which the jury hung? I shall return to that issue is discussing the Rigas case in a later blog. The Rigas case may be read or downloaded here.

In the opening paragraph of Thyfault, Judge Bauer summarizes the facts to set up the issue as follows:

On November 4, 2004, a multi-count superceding indictment charged Michael Thyfault and other individuals with multiple mail fraud and tax evasion offenses. The indictment accused the defendants of being the prime movers in a major scheme to defraud Intercounty Title Company of Illinois ("Inter-county") and related entities. The scheme involved theft and mismanagement of Intercounty's escrow funds over a ten-year period, during which time Intercounty's deficits were covered by thefts from its escrow account. Thyfault was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of mail fraud. The jury acquitted Thyfault on the conspiracy count, but was unable to reach a verdict on the mail fraud counts. The government then sought to retry Thyfault on the mail fraud counts; Thyfault moved to dismiss the charges on the basis of issue preclusion, arguing that his conspiracy acquittal precluded the government from attempting to prove his intent to defraud, an element of the mail fraud charges. The district court agreed and granted the motion. The government brings this appeal, contending that the district court erred in granting Thyfault's motion because a rational jury could well have found that Thyfault intended to violate the law, but not in agreement with others as charged in the conspiracy. We reverse.

Read more »