BUUUUTTTTT.... U.S. Government Sabotaging Stevens' Trial
Ahem:
"Justice Dept. seeks to void Stevens conviction; Acknowledges misconduct by prosecutors" by Neil A. Lewis, New York Times | April 2, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department yesterday moved to drop all charges against former senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who lost his seat last year just days after being convicted on seven felony counts of ethics violations....
Justice Department lawyers told a federal court yesterday that they had discovered a new instance of prosecutorial misconduct, on top of earlier disclosures that had raised questions about the way the case was handled, and asked that the convictions be voided. Attorney General Eric Holder said he would not seek a new trial in the case....
The collapse of the Stevens case was an embarrassment for the Justice Department and it raised troubling issues about the integrity of the actions of prosecutors who wield enormous power over people they investigate. Stevens's case was handled by senior officials of the department's Public Integrity Section, which handles official corruption cases.
Holder, himself a former prosecutor and judge, noted that the department's Office of Professional Responsibility was conducting a review of the prosecutors' conduct, raising the possibility that some of those who tried Stevens on ethics charges could themselves now face ethics charges....
Trial prosecutors had concealed from Stevens's defense lawyers the notes from a 2008 interview with Allen that raised significant doubts about the charges....
Stevens faced an almost certain prison term on the conviction. But Judge Emmet Sullivan had delayed imposing a sentence because he was considering motions by Stevens's lawyers to throw out the conviction based on previous disclosures of prosecutorial misconduct.
The judge repeatedly scolded prosecutors during the trial over a series of incidents in which they concealed important information from defense lawyers. Sullivan recently ordered that some of the government lawyers involved be held in contempt of court, including the two top officials of the Justice Department's public integrity division. 
