Agent Zero: Second Circuit (Again) Limits Criminal Liability In Long-Running Hoskins Case

It's a rare day when the Feds lose a criminal trial. And it's a rarer day when the Feds lose an appeal. It's even rarer when the Feds lose their post-trial appeal—especially after having lost an earlier interlocutory appeal in the very same case.

That just happened. On August 12, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the acquittal of Lawrence Hoskins, a former Alstom executive in Europe, for violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).¹ After closely examining the facts, the court concluded, as a matter of law, that Hoskins was not an agent of Alstom's US subsidiary and therefore not subject to the FCPA. This marks the second time that the Circuit has sided against the government on an FCPA issue in what has become a nearly decade-long prosecution over conduct that dates back to 2002.