Deputy Attorney Gen. James Cole testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the failings of prosecutors to turn over evidence in the Ted Stevens trial wasn’t systemic in the Justice Department, according to McClatchey Newspapers.
“The problem wasn’t what the rules were; the problem was that the prosecutors didn’t follow the rules,” Cole said. “We are confident, had the rules been followed, it would have been a fair and just trial.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wasn’t buying that.
She argued before the panel that legislation is needed to create a uniform standard for prosecutors to disclose all possibly exculpatory evidence to the defense, the newspaper reported
The Stevens case ended in disaster for the government. After getting a conviction, the Justice Department asked the judge to vacate the conviction because prosecutors failed to turn over some potentially helpful evidence to the defense.
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