US drops corruption case against ex-Sen.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
US drops corruption case against ex-Sen.
6
Wed, 04-01-2009 - 4:27pm

US drops corruption case against ex-Sen. Stevens


Complete article see link......


http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN0146599320090401


The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge on Wednesday to throw out the corruption conviction of former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens because prosecutors withheld helpful evidence from his lawyers.


Attorney General Eric Holder said he decided to abandon the case against Stevens, a Republican who narrowly lost his bid for re-election last year amid heavy publicity over the case, after a review showed prosecutors did not turn over to the defense information that might have helped Stevens' case.


In October, a federal jury found Stevens guilty of seven counts of lying on a Senate disclosure form to conceal $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil executive and other friends.


"I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial," Holder said as department prosecutors filed a motion in federal court to set aside the jury verdict and throw out the charges.


The decision to drop the high-profile case was a major embarrassment for the Justice Department. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan immediately set an April 7 hearing on the department's request.

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Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2009
Wed, 04-01-2009 - 5:20pm
This is why prosecutors need to do the right thing and follow the rules.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
Wed, 04-01-2009 - 6:39pm
It's the right call given the actions of the prosecution during the trial.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Wed, 04-01-2009 - 7:30pm
It is unfortunate. I have no regard for those who commit crimes. They are however to be permitted due process. The power of a federal prosecutor must never be abused. This is the correct call.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Thu, 04-02-2009 - 10:32am

"Here we have a guy who gets away with a crime because the prosecutors didn't play be the rules."


Sloppy work by the prosecutors.


"It is almost as if the prosecutors intentionally did this with the forethought that the conviction would be overturned.."


Good point. Was it intentional?

 


Photobucket&nbs

Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Thu, 04-02-2009 - 12:48pm
Interesting thought. I wonder how often that does happen.










iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Mon, 04-06-2009 - 10:59am

Place Stevens' cloud over Bush prosecutors

http://www.starbulletin.com/editorials/20090404_Place_Stevens_cloud_over_Bush_prosecutors.html

AFTER losing his U.S. Senate seat last year following his conviction on corruption charges, Ted Stevens of Alaska vowed that he would "see the day when I can remove the cloud that currently surrounds me." The Justice Department's decision to drop all charges against Sen. Daniel Inouye's longtime friend should shift the cloud over the prosecutorial avarice that ran amok in the Bush administration.

During Stevens' trial, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan repeatedly scolded federal prosecutors for concealing information from defense lawyers and found the chief and deputy of the Justice Department public integrity division in contempt of court. New disclosures show that the concealment went far beyond what was revealed at the trial.

Stevens was accused of accepting bribes from Bill J. Allen, former executive of an oil services company, who oversaw the 2000 renovation of Stevens' Alaska chalet. In October 2002, Stevens stated in a note to Allen, "You owe me a bill ... Friendship is one thing. Compliance with the ethics rules entirely different."

The note was evidence in last year's trial, but Allen testified that a mutual friend, Bill Persons, had told him to ignore the note, that it was intended as cover. However, Allen had told two prosecutors in April 2008 that he did not remember the conversation with Persons. Notes of the prosecutors' interview of Allen were not disclosed to the defense.

Instead of seeking a new trial, Attorney General Eric F. Holder Jr. said he was dropping all charges against Stevens "in consideration of the totality of the circumstances." Stevens is 85, and the conviction undoubtedly was decisive in his defeat for re-election last November. Unfortunately, that injustice cannot be erased.

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