No. 12-1462 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States __________________________ KEVIN A. RING, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. __________________________ On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit __________________________ PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI __________________________ TIMOTHY P. O’TOOLE Counsel of Record ANDREW T. WISE MILLER & CHEVALIER CHARTERED 655 15th St. NW, Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 626-5800 E-mail:
[email protected] DAVID A. MORAN 701 South State Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (734) 615-5419 E-mail:
[email protected] i QUESTIONS PRESENTED In this criminal prosecution of a lobbyist based on a theory of “excessive hospitality,” two important ques- tions are presented: (1) Whether a defendant can be convicted of the of- fense of honest-services-fraud-by-bribery as defined in this Court’s decision in United States v. Skilling, 130 S. Ct. 2896 (2010), in the absence of a quid pro quo bribery agreement. (2) Whether the First Amendment permits jurors to consider evidence of a lobbyist’s legal campaign contributions, permissibly made to express appre- ciation toward and provide election assistance to political officials, as probative of whether the lobby- ist engaged in corruption by putting other things of value to similar use. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTION PRESENTED .........................................i TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ......................................v OPINIONS BELOW...................................................1 STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION ..........................1 CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED........................................2 STATEMENT OF THE CASE...................................2 REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION........8 I. THE COURT SHOULD GRANT CERTI- ORARI TO CONSIDER WHETHER AN HONEST SERVICES FRAUD CONVIC- TION CAN STAND WITHOUT PROOF OF A QUID PRO QUO BRIBERY AGREEMENT ................................................