Judge permits retrial in Abramoff associate's corruption case

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A federal judge on Thursday allowed a high-profile corruption case brought against an associate of convicted ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff to go forward to a second trial, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened an anti-corruption law used by prosecutors in the case.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle in Washington rejected a plea by lawyers for Kevin A. Ring, a former congressional aide and lobbyist, to dismiss the case after the first trial ended in a hung jury in October.

Ring faces eight counts of conspiracy, providing an illegal gratuity and fraud, including allegations that he helped set up a $96,000 "no-show" job at his lobbying firm for the wife of then-Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), for whom Ring previously worked as an aide.

Lawyers for Ring, who has said he is not guilty, argue that the case was grounded in a 1988 federal law that makes it a crime "to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services." The Supreme Court in June ruled that the honest-services law is unconstitutionally vague, limiting its application to bribes and kickbacks.

Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/05/AR2010080505252.html