LINCOLN — Attorneys for former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry repeated arguments Monday that he was improperly tried in California for making false statements to federal agents and that his statements shouldn’t have prompted criminal charges.
Defense attorneys said that the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, mistakenly allowed the trial to proceed in a Los Angeles courtroom a year ago.
The trial ended with jurors finding the nine-term congressman guilty of three felonies involving lying to federal investigators and concealing illegal campaign donations.
“… Because venue did not lie in California, and because the jury was permitted to convict based on an improper theory of materiality, the Congressman’s convictions should be vacated,” stated the 35-page brief, signed by Washington, D.C., attorney Kannon Shanmugam.
Monday’s written arguments were the final ones to be submitted to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Fortenberry’s effort to get his conviction overturned.
An appeal was formally filed in October, and prosecutors submitted a response in January.
Immediately after he was found guilty, Fortenberry expressed doubt that he could get a fair trial in California, a bright blue state compared to reliably red Nebraska.
The congressman, who resigned shortly after his conviction, was sentenced to...
Blow the whistle, get paid. A Justice Department bounty program that incentivizes employees to blow the whistle on their employers could lead to more whistleblowing as the Trump administration inte...