The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturns the obstruction conviction of Ahmad Abouammo, a former Twitter employee accused of spying for Saudi Arabia. The court’s decision focuses on where Abouammo was tried rather than on the underlying obstruction theory. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice obtained his conviction in California, with the jury seated in San Francisco. The Supreme Court rules that the government secured the trial in the wrong state because Abouammo’s relevant interactions with FBI agents occurred at his home in Seattle, Washington, not in California.
According to the court, the conviction stemmed from an alleged knowing falsification of a document intended to impede an FBI investigation. However, the Supreme Court determines that venue was improper and therefore the prosecution should not have been tried in California. The ruling reverses the conviction and sends the case back in a posture that depends on further proceedings under the correct jurisdiction.
