Fed court scratches Urciuoli, Driscoll convictions

From BeloBlog:

In a major decision announced this afternoon, a federal appeals court has vacated the corruption convictions of two former top Roger Williams Medical Center executives and ordered a new trial.

Robert A. Urciuoli, the former president of the medical center, and Frances Driscoll, former senior vice president, had appealed their convictions for paying former state Sen. John Celona to advance the hospital's agenda at the State House.

The former executives argued to the three judge 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that the jury had gotten faulty instructions from Judge Ernest C. Torres in U.S. District Court in Providence.

In October 2006 verdicts, Urciuoli was found guilty of conspiracy to commit "honest services" mail fraud and 35 counts of "honest services" mail fraud, or aiding and abetting such fraud. Driscoll was convicted of one count of "honest services" mail fraud. Execution of their sentences was stayed pending their appeals.

Read the decision by the appeals court.