Stevens court case still on, judge decidesRULING: Selection of jury begins Monday after final hearing.By ERIKA BOLSTAD WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Stevens won’t be able to argue that evidence in the federal corruption case against him violates constitutional separations that keep lawmakers from being prosecuted for their legislative actions in the halls of Congress. A federal judge on Tuesday turned down his lawyers’ request to throw out the seven-count indictment against the senator, and he said in a hearing that if evidence arises at trial that looks as though it violates what is known as the speech-or-debate clause of the Constitution, he will consider barring it. But it was Stevens’ lawyers’ job to show he’s entitled to immunity under the speech or debate clause and they failed to do so, said U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan. Previously, the senator’s lawyers had suggested that investigators could have overstepped their authority by interviewing Stevens’ past and current legislative staffers Sullivan reviewed grand jury transcripts to determine whether witnesses were asked questions that would have violated the speech or debate clause, which limits what sort of evidence executive branch investigators can use when they probe acts by members of Congress. He said he saw a handful, but it was “in no way pervasive.” Stevens, in the midst of a re-election bid, didn’t attend the court hearing Tuesday. However, he was in Washington D.C., in the Capitol. The 84-year-old Alaska Republican faces Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, in the Nov. 4 election. Stevens faces seven felony counts alleging he knowingly took home repairs and gifts worth more than $250,000 from the now-defunct oil services company Veco Corp. and Bill Allen, its former CEO. Prosecutors said that Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers in Alaska, is expected to be one of the first witnesses in the case against Stevens. Sullivan also said Tuesday he would allow evidence from prosecutors that details what Stevens did in his role as an officeholder to help Veco. They include evidence he helped the company land federal contracts and grants, evidence he tried to influence the state in its efforts to build a natural gas pipeline, and communication between his office and the company. Sullivan did tell prosecutors that they have until today to turn over redacted versions of what are known as “form 302s,” the documents that detail the information gleaned by FBI agents when they interview witnesses, including the time and place and what they unearthed from their questions. There are hundreds of the forms, warned one of the prosecutors, Edward Sullivan. Allen alone “has been spoken to many, many times,” Sullivan said. Tuesday’s hearing was an effort to resolve disputed evidence before the trial; Sullivan cautioned that he wanted as many of the questions settled before the trial as possible so they don’t bog down its progress. “This process has to be a meaningful one,” Sullivan said. “I don’t want to start this thing and still be doing it New Year’s Day.” Sullivan will take up the remaining issues Thursday in the final pretrial hearing before the trial. Jury selection begins Monday; the trial is set to begin two days later. |
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