The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversing and remanding the guilty verdict in the public corruption case against former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was the highest-profile reversal of such a case over faulty jury instructions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. McDonnell.
It was also a setback to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District, which had made public corruption a signature issue under former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
