Stevens’s lawyers press transfer issue

Attorneys for indicted Republican Sen. Ted Stevens on Wednesday pressed their case for transferring the trial, claiming that witnesses, events and Stevens himself are centered in Alaska.

Washington attorneys Brendan Sullivan and Robert Cary filed a five-page rebuttal in U.S. District Court to Monday’s filing by Justice Department lawyers over whether Stevens’s corruption case should stay in Washington or be moved to his home state.

{mosads}“The center of gravity of this action remains squarely in Alaska,” Sullivan and Cary wrote.

Stevens, 84, is campaigning this fall for reelection, first in the GOP primary and then potentially the November general election. His 48 years in Alaskan politics and his status as the Senate’s longest-serving Republican have also given him strong popularity in the state, making a trial transfer much more significant than in other cases.

Stevens was indicted on July 29 by a federal grand jury on seven felony counts of filing false financial disclosure statements to conceal $250,000 of gifts and services for his Girdwood, Alaska, home from an oil services company.

Wednesday’s filing is the last expected on the trial transfer issue; U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has scheduled an Aug. 20 hearing on the issue.

Sullivan and Cary’s filing notes that the government’s own statements confirm the majority of the witnesses in the case — approximately 40 — will be from Alaska, and that Stevens must be in Alaska to campaign for reelection.

“The three most important factors the Court must consider in assessing a transfer motion under — the location of Sen. Stevens, the location of potential witnesses, and the location of the events at issue — continue to weigh overwhelmingly in favor of transfer,” Sullivan and Cary wrote. “Furthermore, transfer to Alaska is the only way to permit Sen. Stevens even a minor role in his reelection campaign.”

In their filing on Monday, Justice Department lawyers Brenda Morris, Nicholas Marsh and Edward Sullivan said the case should remain in the District of Columbia, “where the crimes were committed, where the indictment was properly returned and where all the parties and their counsel are located.”

The Justice lawyers noted that Stevens lives in Washington much of the year, has selected local lawyers and filed his financial disclosure forms in Washington. They also noted that Stevens has begun campaigning in Alaska, proclaiming his innocence at campaign events and potentially tainting a jury pool.

But Sullivan and Cary argue Stevens has received both positive and negative publicity from Alaska media, and any influential effects could be addressed during the jury selection process. They also downplay Stevens’s presence in Washington, noting that his financial disclosure forms were “mechanically” filed in the District of Columbia, and that the senator “on occasion participated in phone calls or sent e-mails from the District of Columbia.”

“The indictment makes clear that the core of the government’s case relates to renovations to and furnishings for the Girdwood residence,” Sullivan and Cary wrote, referring to Stevens’s home.