In its first order fully weighing the U.S. Supreme Court's public corruption precedent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday upheld the conviction of former state Assemblyman William Boyland Jr.


William Boyland Jr.

The circuit in U.S. v. Boyland, 15-3118, found that despite erroneous instruction to jurors by Eastern District Judge Sandra Townes in a number of the honest services counts, the overwhelming facts of the case meant Boyland did not meet the plain error standard.

The result unlikely rattled expectations, as observers saw Judges Amalya Kearse, John Walker Jr. and Peter Hall review a case that already met the high burden for Boyland of meeting the plain error standard, which the panel said he did not.