Here is the opinion in United States v. Pecore. An excerpt:
After a six-year investigation, an additional two-and-one-half years of discovery and pretrial posturing, and a nine-day jury trial, Marshall Pecore and Conrad Waniger (the “defendants”) prevailed against civil charges that they violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”). Unsatisfied with just the trial victory and perhaps disturbed that the government spent nearly a decade chasing about $75,000, the defendants moved for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A), or alternatively, sanctions under Rule 37(c)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The district court denied both motions. Despite our discomfort with what looks like government overreaching, we find that the district court’s ruling was not an abuse of discretion and accordingly, we affirm.
Here are the briefs:
Oral argument is here.
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