Law360 reported on a brief filed by the lawyers for five “Varsity Blues” defendants, including the Larson O’Brien defense team for former University of Southern California (USC) water polo coach Jovan Vavic.
The brief said, “the U.S. Supreme Court’s rationale in overturning wire fraud convictions in the Bridgegate scandal eviscerates prosecutors’ foundational arguments that college officials can be held responsible for stolen admissions slots at elite schools.”
Law360 reported that the “lawyers urging Boston U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to trim criminal charges from the complaint said Thursday that if access lanes on the George Washington Bridge aren’t subject to property fraud laws in the eyes of the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Kelly, then neither are admissions slots at . . . [USC,] Wake Forest, or Georgetown University.
The article quoted partner Stephen G. Larson saying that the case, “is a classic case of prosecutorial overreach and, as with the Bridgegate prosecution, represented a perversion of the federal property fraud statutes.” Stephen and partners Kori L. Bell and Paul A. Rigali are defending Mr. Vavic against charges of taking bribes to hide fake USC recruits on the water polo team.
Read the full article by Brian Dowling of Law360 covering the brief here.
