Sullivan

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 23-927 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellee, 3:20-cr-00337-

WHO-

v.

JOSEPH SULLIVAN,

OPINION

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California William Horsley Orrick, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 8, 2024 San Francisco, California

Filed March 13, 2025

Before: M. Margaret McKeown, Anthony D. Johnstone, and Ana de Alba, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge McKeown SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed Joseph Sullivan’s jury conviction for obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony arising from his efforts, while the Chief Security Officer for Uber Technologies, to cover up a major data breach even as Uber underwent investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into the company’s data security practices. Sullivan argued that the district court erred in rejecting two of his proposed jury instructions regarding the obstruction charge. • The panel held that United States v. Bhagat, 436 F.3d 1140 (9th Cir. 2006), forecloses Sullivan’s argument…