Skip to content
Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Lawyer Free Consultation in Astoria, NY
Menu
  • Property Tax
  • Judicial Foreclosure List
  • Wrongful Foreclosure
  • Judicial Foreclosure
  • Bankruptcy And Foreclosure
Menu

Valdes v. United States (2007)

Posted on July 25, 2020August 11, 2020 by Robert Mayer

Nelson Valdes, a detective with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, received payments from an undercover FBI informant after running license plates and checking for outstanding warrants at the informant’s request. A jury convicted Valdes of three counts of receiving an illegal gratuity “for or because of an official act.” The D.C. Circuit, sitting en banc, reversed the conviction, interpreting the anti-gratuity provision to only cover corruption of official decisions through the misuse of influence in governmental decision-making. Concerns about officials moonlighting or misusing government resources were, in the court’s view, properly addressed by other regulations and statutes prohibiting such activities.

Garland dissented. He characterized Valdes’ acts as a police investigation, and thus an official act. While the majority saw the acts as “simple interrogative activity,” Garland noted that many official investigations are just as brief. If Valdes had been ordered by a superior to run the tags, Garland said, it would surely constitute an investigation; the fact he did so in response to the informant made no difference. Moreover, he characterized Valdes’ acts as being taken in his “official capacity,” as he used a police database that he knew could only be used for police business. Garland warned that under the majority’s interpretation, criminals may reward officials for providing them with sensitive information without running afoul of the anti-gratuity provision; bribery prosecutions may be endangered as well, as they rely on the same definition of “official act.”

Robert Mayer

Robert Mayer

Robert Mayer got the license to work as a lawyer in New-York in 2010. After graduating he worked in a non-governmental organization to the UN (United Nations), that specializes in studying the issue of population aging.Read more...

Recent Posts

  • 7 Best Online Bookkeeping Services in 2022
  • Possibility of using a Quitclaim Deed in NYC
  • Top 8 Best Bike Tours in New York City [My Experience]
  • How to Cash Out a Pre Foreclosure Home
  • Judicial Foreclosure Definition and Explanation

Foreclosure Help

  • 7 Best Online Bookkeeping Services in 2022
  • Possibility of using a Quitclaim Deed in NYC
  • Top 8 Best Bike Tours in New York City [My Experience]
  • How to Cash Out a Pre Foreclosure Home
  • Judicial Foreclosure Definition and Explanation

Foreclosure in Astoria, NY

  • About Robert Mayer
  • Bankruptcy And Foreclosure in NY | Can Bankruptcy Stop Foreclosure

This Website is for informational purposes only. The hiring of an attorney is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Materials on the website do not, and are not intended to, constitute legal advice. Neither transmission nor receipt of such materials will create an attorney-client relationship between the sender and receiver. Users are advised not to take, or refrain from taking, any action based upon materials in this Website without consulting legal counsel.

Merrick Garland Project © 2021 | Privacy Policy | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb