White Collar Roundup - November 2011

Cloak and Dagger

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that one can violate the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA) even if the pilfered trade secret would not benefit a direct competitor on the specific project. The court reasoned that if the use of the trade secret could help a competitor bid against the company holding the trade secret, the elements of the EEA are satisfied.

Obstructing the Unknown

A sentencing court can apply the two-point Guidelines § 3C1.1 obstruction-of-justice enhancement for lying, even if the defendant does not know about the federal investigation, according to this 9th Circuit opinion. That court reasoned that "[b]ecause [the defendant] willfully provided false testimony under oath after the FBI had initiated its investigation, and his perjury directly involved two of the counts of which he was convicted, the district court properly applied the § 3C1.1 obstruction enhancement."