McDonnell pictured here in a 2010 interview with Virginia Business. File photo.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court Monday reversed former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s 11 federal corruption convictions in a case that could have wide-reaching implications for what defines public corruption.
"I express my heartfelt gratitude to the justices of the United States Supreme Court for the time and attention they have given to the law in my case," McDonnell said in a statement. "Today, a unanimous United States Supreme Court Vacated my convictions, and it is a day in which my family and I rejoice and give thanks."
The ruling vacates the judgment from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and remands it back to the court, which will have to decide whether the case could be re-tried given the Supreme Court’s new, more narrow definition of “official acts,” says Hank Chambers, professor of law at the University of Richmond.
