Bruno's conviction tossed; new trial looms

ALBANY -- A federal appeals court Wednesday determined that the fraud conviction of Joseph L. Bruno, the former leader of the State Senate, must be vacated, but gave prosecutors the green light to retry New York's once most powerful Republican.

Prosecutors immediately announced they "will work expeditiously" to refile charges in the one of the highest-profile scandals to hit the State Capitol in the last decade.

Bruno, who led the Senate from 1994 to 2008, was convicted in 2009 for scheming to defraud taxpayers of his "honest services" by concealing and profiting from outside business deals. He was accused of taking more than $240,000 for steering a $250,000 grant to a business associate. Bruno was sentenced to 2 years in prison but has been free pending appeal.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan tossed the conviction -- a decision widely expected following a ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court that the portions of the federal "honest services" law was unconstitutionally vague.

Bruno, 82, of Brunswick, near Albany, had asked the court to dismiss the conviction and to bar the U.S. attorney's office from filing new charges. He argued, among other things, that allowing prosecutors to file a new case would violate protections against "double jeopardy," facing the same charges twice.

Bruno got only half of what he had wanted. The 2nd Circuit said it was compelled to vacate his conviction based on the Supreme Court's findings. But it sent the case back to a lower court in Albany where prosecutors could file a superseding indictment, and a new jury would be given proper instructions on fraud laws consistent with the Supreme Court determinations. Sufficient evidence potentially remains to convict Bruno, the three-judge panel wrote.

"Bruno argues that the government failed to provide sufficient proof of a quid pro quo, as essential element of a bribery theory of honest services fraud. We disagree," the judges wrote. "We find that there is sufficient evidence in the record for a reasonable jury to find a quid pro quo."

The judges went on to say it would be rational for a jury to conclude Bruno received substantial payments for doing virtually no work for companies owned by Jared Abbruzzese, a business associate, and "attempted to cover up" his actions.

Bruno's lawyers issued a statement saying they were "delighted" that the conviction was dismissed and tried to cast doubt on prosecutors' chances for success in a second trial.

"In finding that a case might go forward, the Court of Appeals had to agree with favorable inferences of the government's case -- but a jury hearing real evidence is a whole different and much more difficult test," said attorneys Abbe D. Lowell and William J. Dreyer. "We hope the U.S. Attorney will now let go of this 82-year-old man who has given so much to New York state and sufferance for six years under wrongful charges."

No way, said U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Clifford C. Holly, head of the FBI's Albany office. "Today, the Court of Appeals held that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for a reasonable jury to find that Bruno accepted 'payments that were intended to and did influence his conduct as a public official,' " Hartunian said in a statement. He said his office and the FBI "will work expeditiously to present a superseding indictment."