Stevens’ Lawyers Move to Throw Out Trial… Again If the headline seems familiar, it should. Just last week, Sen. Ted Stevens’ attorneys lost a motion for a mistrial. By our count, this is the fourth attempt by the defense to toss out the case against the seven-term senator, but we could have missed a few along the way.
From the AP:
“Until today, defense counsel have refrained from alleging intentional misconduct by the government,” [Stevens’] lawyers wrote in court papers. “We can no longer do so in good conscience.”…The latest mid-trial motion to end the trial says the newly disclosed documents show Allen originally told investigators that he believed Stevens would have paid for work on a mountain cabin if billed — proof, the defense says, that the senator never intended to hide anything.
Rather than turn over the first statement to the defense as required by rules of evidence, the government “intentionally procured from Allen a contradictory statement” and then “concealed its actions” from the court, the defense papers say.
Late update: It’s important to note that the prosecution is stepping up to make sure their “human error” that led to last week’s defense attempt for a mistrial, is being properly investigated. The government requested an internal probe with the Justice Deparment’s internal investigators (Office of Professional Responsibility) to look into their delay in turning over FBI reports to opposing counsel.
Late late update: Judge Emmet Sullivan said the trial would go on today as planned, with the jury hearing recorded phone calls between Stevens and Allen. Sullivan ordered the prosecution to file a formal response by the end of the day in response to the defense’s motion, the AP reports.