Prosecution rests at Stevens trial
Originally published Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 6:15 a.m.
Updated Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 11:19 a.m.
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WASHINGTON (AP) _ After nearly three weeks of testimony about the renovation of a mountain cabin that could ruin an epic political career, federal prosecutors on Thursday rested their corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens.
Lawyers for Stevens were expected to begin presenting their case at the Alaska lawmaker's trial after U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan hears afternoon arguments about the defense's request to acquit Stevens without letting the case go to the jury. Among the witnesses the defense plans to call are Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and former secretary of State Colin Powell.
Stevens, 84, is accused of lying on Senate forms to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations on his cabin and other gifts from Bill Allen, his close friend and former chief of a giant oil services and construction company, VECO Corp.
It remained unclear whether Stevens — the straight-talking, longest-serving Senate Republican and patriarch of Alaska politics for generations — would take the stand in his own defense. He has languished in the courtroom as a Democratic opponent back home mounts a strong challenge to the seat he's held for 40 years.
Defense lawyers insist that Stevens was too busy in Washington to pay close attention to a project that his wife oversaw. They also say their client assumed the $160,000 they paid to another contractor covered everything.
The prosecution's case relied on testimony by several VECO workers who, starting in 2000, labored for months to transform a modest A-frame cabin into a two-story home with wraparound decks, new electric and plumbing, sauna and a master-bedroom balcony. Prosecutors called as their star witness Allen, who has pleaded guilty to bribery in a corruption investigation resulting in convictions of several Alaskan legislators.
A self-made multimillionaire who's known Stevens for more than two decades, Allen testified that the senator came up with the idea for the cabin renovation to make room for visiting grandchildren. As the work progressed, Stevens sometimes asked him for invoices, but Allen said he ignored the requests because he liked him too much and the senator never ended up paying VECO.
Following his arrest in 2006, Allen agreed to secretly record phone conversations with Stevens. In tapes played for the jury, the senator coached his friend on how to fend off the FBI, but also said, "I don't think we've done anything wrong, Bill."
Behind the scenes at the trial, Stevens' attorneys have repeatedly complained to the judge that prosecutors have improperly withheld information that was favorable to Stevens and used records they knew were faulty to try to sway the jury.
Though he's rejected four motions for mistrial, the judge on Wednesday threw out disputed portions of the prosecution case, including misleading records saying that VECO welder Dave Anderson logged hundreds of hours on the cabin project. Allen's nephew left for Oregon for a few weeks in the middle of the job — something jurors weren't told when VECO accounting records were introduced as evidence earlier in the trial.
However, the judge also decided Thursday to let prosecutors call Anderson to the stand as an extra witness, even though they said Wednesday that their case was over.
Anderson testified that he and a parade of other VECO workers spent 10 hours a day, six days a week jacking up the cabin and doing construction on a room underneath and on a new garage, deck, balcony and a fire escape ladder — all paid for by the company.
"This was basically Bill's thing," Anderson said of Allen. His uncle wanted the crew to "pretty much take care of Sen. Stevens," he added.
Defense attorneys declined to cross-examine him.
If convicted, Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each of seven charges, though under federal sentencing guidelines, he probably would receive much less prison time, if any.
Community Discussion
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gee if my spouse does our taxes and I just sign it, does that mean I am not responsible for what I sign? Hope all the big wigs saying what a good guy he is doesn't make the jurors sick and delay the trial.
At least the Jurors will get to meet the crookedest member of the Senate,"The One Armed Bandit" from Hawaii.(Inouye)
Drill baby Drill??? Try, Convict jury Convict!!!!!!!
Wow! The prosecution rests and the jury convicts? I am glad our system of justice does not depend on half-informed bloggers for the final ruling!
I, for one, not only want to see the system perform, but I REALLY want to hear the defense. That ought to be great theater. It also happens to be the way our system of justice works. We should all be glad of that, lest we be charged with some alleged misdeed and want the right to defend ourselves without a kangaroo court jumping to conclusions chanting "Convict, baby! Convict" as we are lead to the gallows.
I am not arguing his guilt or innocence. I am pleading for the reactionaries in our midst to give the justice system a chance. It is what you would want if you were charged.
Free the man.
The standard for conviction is beyond reasonable doubt. How can you believe any of the evidence if the Feds admit to submitting known false evidence.
The financial affairs of many families are handled by the woman of the house. It's just that most men won't admit it. So, let's hear from Catherine Stevens, a powerful attorney in her own right, before we jump to conclusions.
Now, looking at the real estate market, I can find lots of houses that, after deducting the value of the land, are less than $160,000. Then, if after looking at the public pictures of the completed Stevens chalet project, someone told me that the modifications could possibly cost $160,000 that the Stevens' paid plus $250,000 Allen allegedly also spent for a total of $410,000, I'd tell them they were NUTS (or worse). I know that I wouldn't pay that much for such a small improvement UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Then, to think that it would take someone ten weeks at six days a week, ten hours a day to do the electrical work for such a small project, is totally RIDICULOUS. The guy must have been sleeping on the job - if he ever showed up at all!
The time that was recorded in VECO records in the total $400,000+ expenditure could have been enough to totally tear down the old house and build a brand new palace.
Something is really wrong here, boys and girls. So let's hear from Catherine Stevens before we make up our minds about how much the Senator knew. She, like many of us, was the family overseer of the project.
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