Bob McDonnell can breathe a sigh of relief. The federal government isn’t going to seek a retrial on the former Republican governor's corruption/bribery charges. The Supreme Court unanimously tossed the original conviction out in June, citing that the bribery charges lobbed against him were too vague. At the time, it spared McDonnell of his planned two-year prison sentence, but federal prosecutors did have the option to bring him back to court for a new trial. The formal dismissal of the charges will be handed down to the district court (via CBS 6):
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen will not be retried, according to court documents. The motion to remand for dismissal was filed by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Dana Boente.The motion states that “The United States respectfully moves for this court to remand this case to the district court for the United States to file a motion to dismiss the indictment with prejudice under Fed. R. Crim. P. 48 (a). The defendant does not oppose this motion.”
Once judges from The Fourth Circuit of Appeals approves the motion, it will head back to the U.S. District Court for formal dismissal.