The federal judge who presided over the corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, has rejected a request by the former first couple for a new trial.
Judge James Spencer also denied their request to throw out their guilty verdicts—with the exception of one conviction against Maureen.
Spencer disagreed with defense arguments that the McDonnells should be acquitted because prosecutors failed to prove that the couple exercised any official governmental power in exchange for gifts and loans from former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams.
The couple’s lawyers contended that, at most, prosecutors established that the McDonnells had facilitated “access” to state officials, which is permitted under U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
But Spencer wrote that the expansive definition of “official acts” used in the trial and in his jury instructions was the correct interpretation of federal law, and he denied requests to acquit the former governor of 11 convictions and his wife of eight.
The judge did overturn Maureen’s conviction stemming from a note she had written to Williams when she returned some dresses that he had bought. Prosecutors had said that in an attempt to mislead investigators, the note implied that the items were merely borrowed. Spencer ruled that obstruction of justice requires more than just a misleading note.
