US Supreme Court Agrees to Review Honest Services Case

In federal corruption cases, does there need to be an underlying violation of state ethics law?  The United States Supreme Court is poised to answer that question. In late June of 2009, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari (review) in Weyhrauch v. United States (Docket number 08-1196). 

The question presented to the court is whether, to convict a state official for depriving the public of its right to the defendant’s honest services through the non-disclosure of material information, in violation of the mail-fraud statute (18 U.S.C. Section 1341 and 1346), the government must prove that the defendant violated a disclosure duty imposed by state law.