Expect defense attorneys to start raising the failed Ted Stevens case when they feel the government isn’t sharing enough evidence. This is just the start. Trial is set for May 26.
By Bruce Alpert
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — Attorneys for former Rep. William Jefferson say government prosecutors run the risk of the sort of problems that brought the Ted Stevens case “to its ignominious conclusion” if they don’t provide them with evidence that could aid the defense.
They make the case in a letter mailed April 2, a day after the Justice Department agreed to drop the case against Stevens, the veteran Alaska senator. The action, in effect, voided a 2008 jury verdict that found Republican Stevens guilty of not revealing in Senate disclosure forms gifts from a government contractor.
The request to drop the case, which the trial judge quickly agreed to, came after the Justice Department conceded that it hadn’t provided defense attorneys with prosecutors’ notes that contradicted testimony from a key government witness.
