Senators Demand Firing Of Prosecutors In The Ted Stevens Case

Senators Demand Firing Of Prosecutors In Case Against Stevens -- The Hill

Senators are pushing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fire the prosecutors responsible for the “disgusting” botched criminal case against the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

The outrage in the upper chamber follows the release last week of a 525-page report that found the government kept numerous pieces of evidence from Stevens’s attorney that could have proven his innocence or caused the case against him to be dismissed.

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My Comment: These prosecutors did everything possible to subvert the legal system ti convict Sen. ted Stevens .... so yes .... they deserve to be fired.

Probe Blasts Prosecutors In Ted Stevens Case

Probe Into Ted Stevens Case Finds Vital Evidence Concealed -- Kansas City/McClatchy News

WASHINGTON -- A special prosecutor's finding that Justice Department attorneys concealed vital information from the defense in the case against then-Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, one of the nation's longest-serving senators, has prompted calls for Congress to clamp down on prosecutors.

In a case that could have future implications in how the Justice Department prosecutes public officials, a report released Thursday found that the Stevens investigation and prosecution "were permeated by the systematic concealment" of key evidence that would have been beneficial to his defense and that "seriously damaged the testimony and credibility" of the government's key witness, the corrupt Alaskan former chief of oil field-services company Veco Corp.

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More News On Prosecutors Concealing Vital Evidence On Ted Stevens

Report: Prosecutors Hid Evidence In Ted Stevens Case -- NPR
Court-appointed counsel issues report harshly critical of Stevens prosecutors -- CNN
Prosecutors Withheld Stevens Evidence, Report Says -- Wall Street Journal
Probe faults FBI, IRS agents in Stevens case -- FBI
Report: Intentional misconduct in prosecution of Ted Stevens -- L.A. Times
Prosecutors repeatedly hid evidence in Senator Stevens case -- Reuters
Report blasts prosecutors in Ted Stevens case -- Politico
Details Of Witness Relationship With Underage Girl Hidden, Report Into Stevens Prosecution Says -- TPM
Ted Stevens report: Unknown is, would he have been found guilty? -- L.A. Times

My Comment: Ted Stevens is dead .... which makes this probe mute (for him).

Prosecutorial Misconduct In The Ted Stevens Trial

Senator Ted Stevens

Justice For Ted Stevens -- Wall Street Journal

Signs of prosecutorial misconduct.

The headlines are gone, and MSNBC no longer cares. But that's all the more reason to take note of the strange and disturbing turn in the Ted Stevens legal saga.

Prosecutors claimed this senior Senatorial scalp last year, winning an ethics conviction a fortnight before the octogenarian Republican narrowly lost his bid for a seventh term from Alaska. Though media interest stopped there, the story has since become one of ambitious prosecutors who at the very least botched the job and may have miscarried justice.

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My Comment: I am not a fan of Sen. Ted Stevens .... but the prosecutors screwed up (big time) on this case.

DOJ Removes Stevens' Prosecutors

Ted Stevens leaves a federal courthouse in Washington on Monday. Stevens was convicted on corruption charges. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP (The Guardian)

From Politico:

In a surprising move, the Justice Department has removed the prosecution team that won the corruption conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) from any further litigation in the case, according to a new court filing.

This comes after Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presided over the Stevens trial and continues to preside over post-conviction fights over the legitimacy of those proceedings, ruled that four DOJ lawyers, including Brenda Morris, chief prosecutor in the Stevens' case, and William Welch, head of DOJ's Public Integrity Section, were in contempt for failure to comply with his orders.

Sullivan has been angered by the Justice Department's unwillingness to turn over documents and other materials related to accusations by whistleblower Chad Joy. Joy, an FBI special agent who took part in the Stevens case, alleges that prosecutors concealed evidence that would have helped Stevens' defense team. The Justice Department has denied Joy's charges.

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My Comment: As I had mentioned yesterday, this is an unbelievable story. To ignore the judge's orders now taints the entire process.

This was a slam dunk conviction .... now we have to ask the question .... was the evidence tainted?

These lawyers are now gone .... and if there is a body that metes out disciplinary actions against "stupid" lawyers .... I hope they go after this bunch.

Justice Dept. Lawyers In Contempt For Withholding Stevens Documents

Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens

From The Washington Post:

An angry federal judge held Justice Department lawyers in contempt yesterday for failing to deliver documents to former senator Ted Stevens's legal team, as he had ordered.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan called it "outrageous" that government lawyers would ignore his deadline for turning over documents.

Last month, Sullivan told the Justice Department to turn over all its internal communications regarding a whistleblower complaint against the FBI agent leading the investigation into the former Alaska senator. The agent, Chad Joy, complained about some Justice Department tactics during the trial, including not turning over evidence, and an "inappropriate relationship" between another agent working the case and the prosecution's star witness.

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My Comment: What is the prosecutor's office doing here? This sloppiness and incompetence is inexcusable.