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Stevens Seeks Trial In Alaska To Allow For Nighttime Campaigning
Jurors in the upcoming trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) ought to brace for a field trip out to his renovated chalet in rural Girwood, Alaska.
Attorneys for the 84-year-old senator filed a motion in federal court today seeking to have his trial on seven counts of filing false statements moved from Washington, D.C. to Alaska.
Among the reasons cited is Stevens' hope that the jurors can get a first-hand look at the renovations that prosecutors say Stevens received free-of-charge from an Alaska-based oil services firm and failed to reveal on his Senate finance disclosure reports. From the motion:
To assist the jury in understanding these renovations, Senator Stevens intends to request that the Court permit a jury visit to his Girdwood residence - an option that obviously would not be convenient for a Washington, D.C. jury. Moreover, it makes little sense to hold this trial over 3,000 miles from the renovations (the value of which is clearly in dispute) that lie at the heart of this case.
Stevens also claims the trial, scheduled to begin on Sept. 24, should be held in Alaska so the six-term incumbent can campaign at home during the run up to the November election.
Senator Stevens must be able to campaign, albeit limitedly, during the trial. Were venue transferred to Alaska, Senator Stevens would have the opportunity to campaign in the evenings and on weekends during the trial. Were venue transferred to Alaska, Senator Stevens would have the opportunity to campaign in the evenings and on weekends during the trial.
Federal prosecutors are expected to oppose the change in venue, citing the fact the disclosure forms containing the alleged false statements were filed in the capital.
Perhaps he could have a bridge from his home to D.C. built... in time for his trial...
August 4, 2008 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does the indictment list how "Uncle Ted" was getting favorable "homestead" treatment from the DC Office of Tax and Revenue on his palatial DC home in the Foxhall neighborhood?
I didn't think so.
Somehow he managed to make that go away.
August 4, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe it's not the cost of the renovations but whether they were acquired improperly that's at issue here? Or maybe his defense is that the renovations where some kind of assaultive or guerrilla renovations to defame him, a case of coercive renovations that occurred against his will perhaps?
Get these people out of our government please!
August 4, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now why would this felon want a change of venue?
“A jury too often has at least one member more ready to hang the panel than to hang the traitor.”
Abraham Lincoln
August 4, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
so ted stevens wants to spend his nights polluting the jury pool ???
that he wants to campaign in off hours is the BEST reason to keep the trial in DC
that way, his campaigning CAN'T be jury tampering, cuz he AIN'T calling people in DC
if the trial were in Alaska, the possibility exists that stevens could use his campaign to contact jurors
and that is a possibility we must avoid at all cost
August 4, 2008 6:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stevens should plead guilty, resign from public life, reimburse the costs of the renovations on his home, pay a big fine and apologize for being a profligate and irascible pain in the ass. He should then be confined to his home until the end, which, actuarially speaking, should not be too far in the future.
August 4, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good idea. Just hold the trial in a conference room of the Ted Stevens International Airport, right next to the Ted Stevens Train Station attached to the airport (Anchorage).
Should be no problem to find an unbiased Alaskan juror who feels all the billions of Federal pork brought to Alaska has not tainted them.
August 4, 2008 7:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a great solution to this; As I've said in the past, we should build one more edifice to honor Stevens' porkiness and greed--the Ted Stevens Prison for Government Criminals.
It could be a nice growth industry for Alaska.
August 5, 2008 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm an Alaskan and I think his trial should be held in Washington, D.C. -- the scene of the crime.
He knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he signed documents that he knew were incorrect. His only excuse for that many years in a row is STUPIDITY, SENILITY, or DISHONESTY. Take your pick.
This many years in a row is not an accident.
Unfortunately, you will find some Alaskans who have vowed to 'vote for him even if dead'. They are delusional. I and my family do not plan to vote for him, even if alive.
Not all Alaskans think his 'pork' is good. I'm voting for Mark Begich, but if Mark wasn't running, I'd vote for 'ABS', 'anybody but Stevens'.
August 4, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Send the sleazebag to Gitmo.
August 5, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
As an architectural photographer of 35 years, I would be more than happy to travel to Anchorage, photograph Senator Stevens house in all it's glory, so that prosecutors and jurors in Washington wouldn't have to waste their time going to Alaska!
Obviously, getting the venue changed to Anchorage would be of some advantage to the Senator, although I'm sure he would be the first to deny that. After all, who in Alaska would think that accepting $250K worth of improvements to his house was anything but a comradely thing to do by a good friend (who just as obviously, would not possibly benefit his oil company by having a Senator in his pocket).
August 6, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink