Judge deals blow to case against Sen. Stevens

A federal judge on Wednesday allowed the criminal charges against Sen. Ted Stevens to stand, but he delivered a sharp blow to the government by throwing out key evidence in the case. 

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, in the second time in as many weeks, rejected a defense motion to declare a mistrial or dismiss all seven felony charges facing the Alaska Republican, but he scolded the government for keeping key evidence from defense lawyers that they could have used during cross-examination and their opening argument.

{mosads}“I don’t doubt you take your jobs seriously, what I have doubts about is whether the government [is concerned] about its obligation,” Sullivan said.

He added that the court would strike records pertaining to work that two men performed on a remodeling project at Stevens's home in Girdwood, Alaska. He also struck evidence pertaining to a lucrative car swap in 1999 when Stevens snagged a brand-new $44,000 Land Rover in exchange for $5,000 in cash and the senator's 1964 Mustang, estimated to cost no more than $20,000.

Following a contentious hearing, during which the jury was not present and the judge pummeled prosecutors for their conduct, Sullivan said he was “disturbed” by the turn of events.

“It’s very troubling that the government would utilize the records that the government knows were false,” Sullivan said. “And there’s just no excuse for that whatsoever.”

Sullivan said he would instruct jurors Thursday that the government failed to provide the evidence to the defense and they should disregard testimony corroborating the car exchange and records pertaining to the work Rocky Williams and Dave Anderson, two employees of Veco Corp., performed at Stevens’s home.

Stevens, 84, faces seven felony charges for failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from Bill Allen, the former head of the now-defunct Veco oil-services firm, and other longtime friends. He denies all charges and is facing reelection next month.

During cross-examination of Allen, now the government's star witness, the defense sought to undermine his claim that he spent $44,000 for the Land Rover that he eventually gave to the senator. But the government waited until after the cross-examination — and during their redirect examination of Allen — to disclose that they had a copy of a $44,000 check that Allen used to pay for the automobile.

The judge and defense lawyers said the cross-examination of Allen would have been different if they knew that a copy of the check existed.

“From where we sit, it looks like a sandbag,” said Robert Cary, Stevens’s defense attorney.

Sullivan has grown increasingly irritated at the government for violating his order to turn over all exculpatory evidence before the trial began, and for allowing Williams to leave Washington for Alaska before meeting with defense attorneys.

Stevens’s team accuses the government of intentionally suppressing potentially damaging evidence to its case. But the Justice Department argues that the materials that were belatedly provided to the defense have not affected the trial.

“We believe we are still in a position to have a fair trial,” said Nicholas Marsh with the Justice Department.

Still, the judge scolded Marsh for producing records in trial that showed Anderson and Williams spent more time on the renovations than Anderson said in secret grand-jury testimony two years ago. To comply with an order from the judge, the transcripts of the grand-jury testimony were recently presented to the defense and showed that Anderson was in Portland, Ore. for three months in 2000 when he was billing Veco for his work at Stevens’s home.

“We’re talking about the government using documents that the United States knew were false,” a visibly angry Sullivan said, saying the Justice Department “had an obligation to say something doesn’t smell right here.”

“All along the government knew that was a lie,” he added.

Marsh struggled to explain the discrepancy, but admitted that the government’s estimated cost that Stevens left unpaid a $188,000 tab for home renovations was probably about $16,000-$17,000 too high. He argued, however, that other Veco employees who worked at the senator’s home did not bill the company for their hours, and said it doesn’t impact the fact that the senator didn’t report gifts that were “533 times” higher than the $250 threshold that requires public disclosure.

“We just look at this in a different light,” Marsh said.

“A very dim light, counsel,” Sullivan shot back.

The government plans to inform the jury on Thursday that it rests its case, and the defense attorneys will spend about a week to make their case.