The Supreme Court just handed down a ruling that could have a big ripple effect, and it centers on the criminal case of a former Chicago alderman.
CHICAGO – The Supreme Court sided Friday with former Chicago Alderman Patrick Daley Thompson, who argued the law used to convict him of making false statements to bank regulators was misinterpreted and applied by an appellate court, and could only be applied to statements that are “false” and not those that are “misleading.”
Patrick Daley Thompson's 2022 criminal case centers around what he told regulators about three bank loans he took out from a Bridgeport bank. Thompson is the nephew and grandson of two former Chicago mayors - Richard M. Daley and Richard J. Daley.
When that bank failed, court records show regulators from the FDIC sought to collect and question Thompson about his loans. Thompson told regulators, according to the Supreme Court's summary, that he borrowed $110,000, omitting the fact that he later borrowed more money – a total of $219,000.
His statements to regulators were at the center of his criminal case and now his appeals.
The Supreme Court’s ruling Friday vacates his case and sends it back down to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to consider whether “a reasonable jury could find that Thompson’s statements were false.”
In his ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out that “false and misleading” statements are two different things. And he used this analogy – “if a tennis player says she ‘won the championship’ when her opponent forfeited, her statement—even if true—might be misleading.” He later emphasized that the statute used to convict Thompson only uses the word “false."
Friday’s ruling still leaves open the possibility that Thompson’s conviction could be upheld. And that's what former federal prosecutor Ron Safer thinks may occur.
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“Mr. Thompson gets very little comfort from this opinion. It will help other people, but not him because the court said in a concurrence, Justice Jackson specifically said – the Seventh Circuit really has nothing to do but find him guilty because while his statement was literally true – he borrowed $110,000. In context, it was false because it gave the wrong amount,” said Safer.
Thompson couldn't be reached for comment. But his attorney Chris Gair provided NBC 5 Investigates with a statement that read: “We are very pleased with the result. This vindicates what we’ve been trying to convince DOJ of all along.”
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