Aug. 4, 2008 – 4:50 p.m.
Sen.
Stevens, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican, is set to stand trial Sept. 24 in U.S. District Court in Washington on charges of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms over a seven-year period.
Stevens, 84, has pleaded innocent and disputed the charges in a written statement.
In their motion to have the case moved to Alaska, the state Stevens has represented for nearly 40 years, his lawyers said they anticipate that 90 percent of the roughly 40 to 50 witnesses who could be called will have to travel from Alaska. “Very little of the alleged underlying conduct charged in the indictment took place in the District of Columbia,” they wrote, arguing that the case’s “center of gravity” is in Alaska, not Washington.
Although he faces a tough re-election challenge in November, Stevens has built a strong base of support in Alaska, where he has become a political patriarch and is known affectionately as “Uncle Ted.” He could benefit from moving the trial there.
Stevens’ attorney, Brendan Sullivan, sought a September court date that would give the senator a chance to clear his name before the November election. It’s unclear how quickly the case could be tried if it were moved to Alaska.
“Senator Stevens is in the middle of a reelection campaign, and he is required to spend much of his time in his home state of Alaska,” his lawyers argued in Monday’s brief. “The Senate is currently in recess until September and intends to adjourn again in late September for the general election ... Senator Stevens must be able to campaign, albeit limitedly, during the trial. Were venue transferred to Alaska, Senator Stevens would have the opportunity to campaign in the evenings and on weekends during the trial.”
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan scheduled an Aug. 20 hearing on the change of venue motion.
As part of that motion, Stevens’ lawyers are asking that Sullivan keep the case even if it is moved.
Prosecutors, who intend to oppose the motion, have until Aug. 11 to file their opposition brief.
Prosecutors have said they plan this week to turn over to Stevens’ lawyers a large amount of documents, videotapes and audio recordings they plan to use to make their case.
A 28-page indictment, issued July 29, charges that Stevens concealed his acceptance of more than $250,000 worth of benefits from VECO Corp., an oil services company, and its former chief executive, Bill Allen, from 1999 to 2006, most notably labor and supplies for the renovation and improvement of his home in Girdwood, Alaska.
Defense lawyers indicated that Stevens would ask to have a jury tour his home, “an option that obviously would not be convenient for a Washington, D.C. jury,” they wrote, adding “It makes little sense to hold this trial over 3,000 miles from the renovations (the value of which is clearly in dispute) that lie at the heart of this case.”
Stevens’ indictment is the latest development in an ongoing probe of corruption among Alaska politicians.
The indictment also claims that Stevens used his Senate position — at the request of Allen and other company employees — to help VECO pursue federal grants, explore projects in Pakistan and Russia and construct a natural gas pipeline in Alaska’s North Slope.