California IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Jury Verdict Against Marshal Overturned

A federal judge has overturned the guilty verdict of a U.S. deputy marshal who had been convicted by a jury of illegally accepting money from a government contractor. Calling the marshal a “sweep-along victim,” U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts overturned the guilty verdict against Gordon Tornberg, 59, of Tustin, who had been convicted along with former deputy marshal Joseph Gieniec, 43, of Santa Ana, of accepting illegal gratuities. Gieniec, who was convicted on four criminal counts, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. “I can’t believe and never would have expected to overrule a jury verdict,” Letts said in his ruling, issued Friday. But the judge told the courtroom that he did not think the government had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Tornberg knowingly had accepted illegal gratuities.