Prosecutors blast Stevens

defense claims innocence

October 21, 2008

Sen. Ted Stevens argued his case on the witness stand earlier in the trial. (Art Lien/KTUU-TV)

by Jill Burke
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors portrayed Sen. Ted Stevens as a crafty, deceitful and penny-pinching politician during their closing arguments Tuesday in Stevens' trial for allegedly lying on Senate disclosure forms.

The prosecution urged jurors to find Stevens guilty and spoke about how the senator's work to conceal smaller gifts -- such as puppies, gas grills and a generator -- set a pattern for how far Stevens would be willing to go to conceal much more expensive free work on his Girdwood home.

The basis of the government's case is that Stevens knowingly failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home remodeling from VECO Corporation and the company's CEO Bill Allen, once a good friend of the Stevens family.

The defense called Stevens an innocent and decent man, and refuted Allen's earlier testimony.

"Some master cover-up by some sinister senator? That's sick," said defense attorney Brendan Sullivan. "That's not real life. That's not the way things are."

But earlier, the prosecution played the now-infamous FBI recording of a phone conversation between Stevens and Allen, which was recorded after Allen revealed the investigation to Stevens. In it, Stevens tells a troubled Allen the worst that might happen are steep legal fees and maybe a little time in jail.

"Who talks about spending a little time in jail unless they've done something wrong?" prosecutor Joe Bottini asked the jury.

Stevens took advantage of a powerfully wealthy and generous friend in Bill Allen, Bottini said.

Bottini also told jurors to use their common sense. Stevens' defense -- that he believed all of the bills had been paid, that VECO was not involved, and that VECO employees working on the home were actually moonlighting -- is "absolute nonsense," Bottini said.

"Ladies and gentleman of the District of Columbia, you have an innocent man on your hands," said Sullivan, Stevens' attorney, to the jury. "The evidence doesn't mean what you've heard."

As Sullivan argued the senator's innocence, he referred to the many character witnesses the defense had called to the witness stand.

"You've heard evidence that this is a very decent man," Sullivan said. "Would he be involved in a conspiracy?"

Stevens did not act willfully with intent to break the law, Sullivan said.

"A one-man crime spree every year, violating the law?" Sullivan asked the jury. "There's no evidence of that."

To believe the government's case, Sullivan said, the jury would have to ignore the written record.

And Sullivan called Bill Allen's testimony lies.

"We are trying to convict an innocent man in this courtroom on the interpretation of evidence that is so far from real life that it should make you sick!" Sullivan told the jury.

Contact Jill Burke at jburke@ktuu.com

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