Like The Rolling Stones

March 16, 2021

Circuit Judge Wilkins authored an opinion affirming a conviction from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

We can’t always get what we want, but, sometimes, we get what we need. Appellant Shan Shi obtained seven documents containing trade secret information his company needed to produce drill riser buoyancy modules, the high-tech equivalent of water wings for the miles of steel pipe that extend from drill ships to the ocean floor and carry oil from natural deposits tens of thousands of feet below the surface. Unfortunately, that information was not publicly available; it came from a competitor. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, United States v. Vega, 826 F.3d 514, 522 (D.C. Cir. 2016) (citation omitted), we hold that the jury had sufficient evidence to find that Shi joined an agreement to acquire and use trade secret information, and sufficient evidence to find that Shi believed the documents he received contained trade secrets. We therefore affirm his conviction.

Senior Circuit Judge Silberman wrote a concurring opinion expressing grave concerns about the government’s brief

As an alumnus of the Department of Justice, I regard the Government’s brief as particularly disheartening. That the case was close is no excuse for distorting the facts. “[T]he
Government should turn square corners in dealing with the people.” St. Regis Paper Co. v. United States, 368 U.S. 208, 229 (1961) (Black, J., dissenting). This is particularly true in criminal cases and perhaps even more so when dealing with a politically unpopular defendant. Still, it may be thought that my criticism of the Government’s brief is too demanding, and therefore I welcome Judge Wilkins’s defense of Government counsel.

Said defense in part

I agree, of course, that the government must not overreach in the course of criminal prosecutions. That said, the concerns raised by my concurring colleague are a thin reed upon which to base such a claim, and they certainly do not merit his rebuke in the Federal Reporter. Such strong medicine should be reserved for instances where one does not have to strain to find a malady.

(Mike Frisch)