A federal appeals court has tossed the conviction of a Bay Area nonprofit CEO in a pandemic-era COVID relief fraud case, ruling that a juror’s undisclosed bias deprived the defendant of an impartial jury and sending the case back for a new trial. The decision wipes out a 2023 jury verdict that had led to a lengthy prison sentence and more than $1 million in restitution.
Appeals Court Says Juror Bias Required A Do-Over
In an opinion filed on Tuesday, a Ninth Circuit panel said an alternate juror, identified only as Juror 48, told the court he had a strong negative reaction to the defendant’s race and religion defense. The panel found that the trial judge mishandled the problem by postponing any serious inquiry into the juror’s views until it became clear he might be moved to the regular panel. A later conversation with the juror, after he had already heard evidence, did not resolve doubts about his impartiality and amounted to an abuse of discretion, the court held. The panel vacated the 44-count verdict and remanded the case for a new trial, according to Justia.
Convictions, Sentence And Alleged Scheme
Attila Colar was convicted on 44 federal counts in June 2023 and later sentenced to 204 months, or 17 years, in prison. The district court also ordered more than $1 million in restitution. Prosecutors said Colar ran a nonprofit called All Hands on Deck and submitted multiple fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, at one point seeking tens of millions of dollars in relief. Those details and the sentence were described in a Department of Justice release following the 2023 sentencing.
What Comes Next
The Ninth Circuit’s ruling does not wipe out the charges themselves, and the panel explicitly left the door open for prosecutors to pursue a new trial. The opinion stressed that any colorable claim of juror bias must be investigated promptly and thoroughly. It also noted that Colar, who represented himself for parts of the trial, repeatedly argued that law enforcement targeted him because of his race and religion, which made a careful inquiry into potential bias especially important, according to the opinion.
Local Reporting Traced The Operation
Local coverage has detailed how All Hands on Deck won state parolee contracts and allegedly used falsified inspection reports and residents’ identities to support fake payrolls and claim pandemic relief. A CalMatters investigation in 2023 laid out those allegations and the indictment’s claim that the scheme netted roughly $1 million, while Palo Alto Online reported on the appeals court decision this week.
Legal Note
Because the panel treated the failure to remove a biased juror as a structural error, the reversal is not subject to harmless-error review and automatically entitles Colar to a new trial. If the government decides to retry the case, the district court’s handling of juror qualification and potential bias is likely to come under renewed scrutiny.
