Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Mahmoud Thiam v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 17-2765 · judgment August 5, 2019

Certiorari denied · December 9, 2019

Pre-decision estimate: 3% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Where a foreign statute is used as a predicate for prosecution in an American court, must that statute be construed in accordance with American constitutional limitations, including but not limited to the vagueness doctrine?
Where a defendant is charged with an offense that requires, as a predicate, violation of a foreign statute that requires a quid pro quo in exchange for official action, must the jury be instructed consistently with the definition of “official act” set forth in McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016)?
Did the petitioner’s conduct, as testfied to at trial, amount to an official act pursuant to McDonnell? -i-

For petitioner
Jonathan I. Edelstein

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Dec 09 2019
Petition DENIED.
Nov 20 2019
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/6/2019.
Nov 13 2019
Waiver of right of respondent United States of America to respond filed.
Nov 04 2019
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 6, 2019)