In United States v. O’Donoghue, ___ F.Supp.4th ___ (D.D.C. 7/22/26), the Court (Judge Colleen Kollar-Ketelly) dismissed 8 Counts of a 9 Count indictment for lack of venue in the District of Columbia. The opinion can be viewed: CL here, TN here, and GS [to come]; the indictment can be viewed: CL here. The dismissed Counts were for tax evasion § 7201 and subscribing to false tax returns § 7201(1) (aka tax perjury). The undismissed count (Count 9) was for making false statements in a proffer session at DOJ offices in D.C., in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
This post will initially be a notice of the opinion with limited comment. I will post further analysis tomorrow. In the meantime, my initial reading is that it covers a lot of ground familiar to fans of tax crimes (the study rather than the commission). I say that because many leading tax crimes cases make at least a cameo appearance in the opinion.
The overall crux of the case is Constitution Article III’s requirement that trial “of all Crimes . . . shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed.” This limits statutes that might otherwise permit venue elsewhere. The Government was relying upon such statutes to permit venue. More on this later. The Government was also arguing that the essential conduct for the 8 dismissed counts included conduct that was outside the U.S., thus permitting venue in the District of Columbia. The Court swatted that down. More on this later.
So, I will just post my quick reactions here and be back with more tomorrow.
1. The lawyering for O’Donoghue appears to have been great! He had good counsel, identified in CL here (click the Parties and Attorneys tab). I haven’t read the briefs but may do so tomorrow or even later—emphasize may because I am otherwise busy). I assume that there was good briefing because I infer that the Court worked from the submissions.
2. This may be a pyrrhic victory because, even if the statute of limitations has otherwise closed, 18 U.S.C. § 3288, here, extends the statute of limitations for 6-months after dismissal, assuming an original timely indictment in D.C. Thus, it appears that the Government can seek an indictment in the Western District of Texas which will be a bit of an inconvenience because the undismissed Count (Count Nine, for false statements) will presumably be tried in the District of Columbia, which could add major costs to the Government and O’Donoghue.
