Judge may ‘sanction’ government in Stevens case

Sen. Ted Stevens's lawyers have a chance to weaken the case against him as a federal judge will consider sanctioning government prosecutors over their handling of a key witness.

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia said Monday he was "disturbed" that the government allowed Rocky Williams to return to Alaska without the court's permission and without consulting defense attorneys, who also subpoenaed the witness to testify in the case. Sullivan said arranging Williams's travel back to Alaska raised the appearance of impropriety.

{mosads}"I’m going to sanction if appropriate — I’m just not going to drop that issue," Sullivan said, without specifying the sanctions he had in mind.

The case hinges on whether Stevens (R-Alaska) concealed gifts and home renovations from Veco Corp., a now-defunct oil-services company.

Williams, a former Veco employee, oversaw the extensive home renovations at the senator's Alaska home. Williams, who left Washington to deal with an unspecified health issue, later told defense attorneys that he did not spend as much time at Stevens's home as has been alleged in court.

"I’m concerned that a subpoenaed witness … was advised to leave the District of Columbia, and assisted in leaving the District of Columbia by the government for reasons not fully explored by defense counsel and the court," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he could not draw a conclusion why that happened, but it was "curious" since the government seemed to realize "the testimony may not be helpful" to its case. He asked for the government to submit a brief Monday to explain the rationale for allowing Williams to leave Washington, and said the defense should respond Tuesday morning. He said he would then consider whether to issue "sanctions."

The defense attorneys have already asked the judge to declare a mistrial, but he denied that request Monday morning.

The government is trying to establish that Stevens knowingly and willingly concealed $250,000 in gifts, including $188,000 in home renovations arranged by Veco. But Stevens, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, said he paid every bill he received, and that Williams's testimony would undercut the assertion that there were expensive renovations taking place that the senator was aware of.

Brenda Morris, the lead prosecutor at the Justice Department, said the government was not trying to hide the witness.

"It was a unique situation — I'm sorry, Judge," Morris said.