Prosecutors lose powerful weapon

SUPREME COURT | 'Honest services' fraud cases are too vague, justices rule in Enron case

BY CHRIS FUSCO AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters
A U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakens a key anti-corruption law is expected to spark hundreds -- if not thousands -- of convictions to be reviewed, but it probably won't help former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose trial forged ahead Thursday after the ruling came out.

The high court, acting on a case brought by former Enron Chief Jeffrey Skilling, ruled Thursday that the law that made it illegal for corporate officers and public officials to deprive shareholders and taxpayers of "honest services" is too vague and that bribes or kickbacks must take place for honest-services fraud to be a crime.

Federal prosecutors, anticipating the ruling, retooled Blagojevich's indictment in February to make sure their allegations that Blagojevich used state government to line his own pockets would be charged under multiple criminal laws, not mainly honest-services fraud. In the spring, they drew up a similar amended indictment for former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, whose retrial on charges that he rigged city jobs is to begin next week.