The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Former House Official Wants Public Corruption Conviction Overturned

Nearly nine years ago, Fraser Verrusio, then a policy director in the House of Representatives, accepted an all-expenses paid trip to the first game of the World Series. He's now fighting to convince a federal appeals court in Washington to erase his conviction on public corruption charges stemming from that trip.

A jury in Washington's federal trial court convicted Verrusio in February 2011 on charges that included acceptance of an illegal gratuity and failing to include gift information on financial disclosure reports. He was sentenced that year to spend the afternoon in a cell in the courthouse.

Verrusio's lawyers—including A.J. Kramer, the federal public defender in Washington, and a team from Baker Botts—filed their opening brief on October 5 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The case is one of two cases pending in the D.C. Circuit with ties to Washington's lobbying scandal and the exploits of Jack Abramoff.

The defense lawyers argue, among other things, that the trial judge, Richard Roberts, "greatly expanded" the scope of the federal anti-gratuities statute. The attorneys contend the U.S. Justice Department didn't prove that Verrusio used his official position to influence government decision-making.

The Morning Wrap

'Biggest Honor': Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced on Saturday aboard the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va., that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would be his running mate, The Washington Post reports. "It's gone from the surreal to the real. . . . It was the biggest honor I've ever been given in my life," Ryan said.

USA, USA: The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London concluded on Sunday with the United States taking home the most medals, according to The New York Times. The United States secured 104 medals, 46 of which were gold. China, which followed the United States in the medal count, had 88 medals, 38 of which were gold.

Robbed: D.C. Superior Court Judge Ronna Beck and two of her friends were robbed at gunpoint on August 3 when they left the Citi Open Tennis Tournament in Rock Creek Park, NBC Washington reports. The robbers stole about $100 in cash, a key to a Lexus, purses and wallets. Neither Beck nor her friends were hurt during the robbery.

The Morning Wrap

Aurora Shooting: James Holmes was seeing a psychiatrist before he allegedly entered an Aurora, Colo., theater on July 20 and shot 70 people, killing 12 of them, The Denver Post reports. It isn't immediately clear why the psychiatrist was treating him or for how long.

Social Media: Apple Inc. is considering an investment in Twitter Inc., The New York Times reports. "Apple doesn't have to own a social network," Timothy Cook, Apple's chief executive, said at a recent technology conference. "But does Apple need to be social? Yes."

Social Olympics: Corporate Counsel explores the limits the International Olympic Committee has placed on athletes' use of social media. "This is the first Games where we're really seeing such active use of social media to promote the Games, which is going to be a challenge for us," said Amy Savela, the U.S. Olympic Committee's associate general counsel for marketing.

Big East Conference Drops Lawsuit Against Texas Christian University

The Big East Conference notified (PDF) a U.S. District judge yesterday that it is dropping its lawsuit against Texas Christian University. The Big East accused the school of refusing to pay a fee it purportedly owed after joining a different athletic conference.

The Big East filed suit against the university in June in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In a statement about the notice of dismissal, the conference said that: "TCU has fully discharged its obligations to the Big East and the lawsuit is amicably settled without admission of liability of any party."

The university also issued a statement, saying that: "The University is pleased with the amicable resolution of this matter and glad to have it behind us."

Judge Decides Not to Force DOJ to Pay Clemens' Legal Fees

A federal judge in Washington today declined to force the government to pay legal fees Roger Clemens incurred before a mistrial was declared last summer in the perjury case against him.

Lawyers for Roger Clemens, represented by Rusty Hardin Jr. of Houston and Michael Attanasio of Cooley, last fall urged U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton to sanction the U.S. Attorney's Office for conduct that led to a mistrial.

Clemens was acquitted last month on charges that he lied to Congress in 2008 when he denied using performance enhancing drugs during his long, highly celebrated baseball career. His lawyers have declined to say how much the defense cost.

Clemens Attorney: Jury 'Didn't Find the Case to Be Close'

Veteran defense lawyer Rusty Hardin was first up yesterday afternoon to address reporters outside Washington's federal trial court after the Roger Clemens verdict. But he quickly offered his thanks to his trial teammate: Cooley partner Michael Attanasio.

Attanasio runs Cooley's San Diego office and is vice-chair of the firmwide litigation department. A day after a jury acquitted Clemens on charges of lying to Congress, Attanasio answered a few questions about key moments in the trial, including testimony from Andy Pettitte and Brian McNamee, who said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone. The verdict came after about 11 hours of deliberation.

The National Law Journal: You met with jurors after the verdict. Any insight on what stuck with the panel?

Attanasio: I'll speak to it globally since the jurors so far haven't spoken out. But what we understood to be the consensus: They did not believe Brian McNamee. They didn't find the case to be close. They felt there was no corroboration, that McNamee couldn’t be trusted, and that we put on a compelling case about what made Roger Clemens Roger Clemens.

NLJ: Andy Pettitte told you that his memory of a key conversation in 1999 or 2000 with Clemens about growth hormone was, at best, "50-50." Were you surprised when he said that?

Roger Clemens Not Guilty of Lying to Congress

Updated 6:13 p.m.

By Mike Scarcella and Zoe Tillman

A federal jury in Washington found former baseball star Roger Clemens not guilty of charges that he lied to Congress about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The jury returned its verdict this afternoon in U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton's courtroom after less than 12 hours of deliberation spread out over three days.

Prosecutors charged Clemens in 2010 with perjury, making false statements and obstruction of Congress. The case centers on Clemens’ testimony at a 2008 congressional hearing that he never used the drugs, a claim that the government contended was a lie.

Clemens was working out with his sons near the Washington monument when he received a call about the verdict at about 4 p.m. Clemens' top lawyer, Russell “Rusty” Hardin Jr., told Clemens not to expect a verdict until two to four days.

Outside the courthouse, where a throng of spectators gathered after the verdict, Clemens choked up when he described how he felt. "I put a lot of hard work into that career," Clemens said, his voice breaking up. Clemens said: "It's been a hard five years."

The Morning Wrap

Countdown: As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on the Obama administration's signature health care legislation, White House and congressional officials are "spinning in advance of their 'day of' statement," The Washington Post reports.

Uphill Battle: Robert Luskin of Patton Boggs, representing acclaimed cyclist Lance Armstrong, is "aggressively questioning" evidence that his client violated anti-doping rules, The New York Times reports. The United States Anti-Doping Agency is set to bring charges against Armstrong. Former Armstrong teammates cooperated in the investigation, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Monitoring: Law school students at University of California at Irvine will monitor five banks' compliance with a California foreclosure settlement. The National Law Journal said students in the law school's consumer protection clinic will, among other things, assist homeowners in modifying their loans.

Going Away: "I'm not a thief," R. Allen Stanford said yesterday in Houston federal district court before a judge sentenced him to 110 years in prison for executing one of the country's largest-ever fraud schemes. More coverage here and here.

Big East Conference Sues Texas Christian University for $5M

The Big East Conference filed a lawsuit (PDF) yesterday against Texas Christian University, accusing the school of refusing to pay an agreed-upon fee after deciding to join a different intercollegiate athletic conference.

The Big East, a District of Columbia-incorporated non-profit that is headquartered in Providence, R.I., filed the $5 million breach of contract complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The group is being represented by Covington & Burling partner Benjamin Block.

In a statement, the university said that "administrators were surprised by this lawsuit and believe it is premature. The University is hopeful for an amicable resolution of this matter."

The Morning Wrap

Disapproving: A New York Times / CBS News poll reveals 44 percent of Americans approve of the job the U.S. Supreme Court is doing. The rating is a "fresh indication that the court's standing with the public has slipped significantly in the past quarter-century."

Reducing: The Los Angeles Times reports a new law targeting California's budget shortfall has led to a more than sixfold increase in the number of state prison parolees freed from law enforcement supervision. A little-known law has sped up the release process.

Pleading: Former D.C. Council chairman Kwame Brown is expected to plead guilty today in Washington federal district court to a bank fraud charge. The Washington Post reports the jockeying is underway to take over leadership of the council.

Declining: From The National Law Journal: "Employment rates for the law school class of 2011 hit an 18-year low, according to new NALP data. Only two-thirds of recent graduates are in jobs that require bar membership."