Skip to content
Version 1.0.0
Sentencing Law and Policy
Part of the Law Professor Blogs Network

More ugliness revealed in prosecution of former Senator Ted Stevens

By Douglas Berman

This New York Times article provides more fascinating details concerning more of the ugliness surrounding the federal prosecution of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens:

An F.B.I. agent who worked on the investigation of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who was convicted on ethics charges, has said in a stunning formal complaint that a fellow agent and prosecutors contrived to improperly conceal evidence from the court and the defense.

Among the startling accusations in the statement by the agent, Chad Joy, is that another agent maintained an inappropriate relationship with the prosecution’s star witness. Mr. Joy said his colleague, Mary Beth Kepner, almost always wore pants but on the day the witness, Bill Allen, took the stand, Ms. Kepner donned a skirt, which Mr. Joy said she described as “a present” to Mr. Allen….

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who presided over the Stevens trial in Federal District Court here, has called a hearing Friday to consider a request by Mr. Stevens’s lawyers for a new trial based on Mr. Joy’s complaint.

If this is what goes on even in a high-profile case when everyone knows their actions are likely to be scrutinized, imagine what might possibly take place in the thousands of other cases involving less prominent and powerful defendants.  I now remain truly sorry that Stevens lost his re-election bid because this experience might have turned him into a prominent critic of excessive prosecutorial power and a crusader for criminal defendants’ rights.

Some related posts: