Judge Enters Sua Sponte Orders in Ted Stevens Case

[kpete]

Source: Talk Left

Judge Enters Sua Sponte Orders in Ted Stevens Case
By Jeralyn, Section Corruption Cases
Posted on Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 10:08:18 PM EST

Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' criminal conviction is history, but the Judge is still going. Today (yes on Sunday) Judge Emmett Sullivan entered two orders (available on PACER):

MINUTE ORDER as to THEODORE F. STEVENS. The Court, sua sponte, directs that by no later than 10:00 a.m. on April 6, 2009, the government shall provide to the Court copies of all material gathered post-trial and produced to the defendant. The government shall also provide to the Court all exculpatory evidence, witness interviews, 302s, and affidavits gathered, created and/or reviewed as part of the investigation into the Joy Complaint, and the attorneys notes regarding the April 15, 2008 interview with Bill Allen, whether or not that material has been produced to the defendant. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on April 5, 2009. (AS) (Entered: 04/05/2009)



and,

04/05/2009 MINUTE ORDER as to THEODORE F. STEVENS. The Court, sua sponte, ORDERS that the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and any and all other government agencies involved in the investigation and/or prosecution of Senator Stevens immediately preserve any and all documents related to this matter, including but not limited to emails, notes, memoranda, investigative files, audio recordings, and any and all electronically stored information, until further Order of this Court. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on April 5, 2009. (AS) (Entered: 04/05/2009)


Read more: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/4/5/23818/05007

[babylonsister]

1. Interesting. He should be careful what he wishes for.

I still think Stevens was guilty.

[elleng]

3. He may too,

and is seriously angered by govt. behavior.

[babylonsister]

4. It's a win-win for us either way, but I was just contemplating

how it might dredge up Stevens' culpability despite the federal incompetence.

[L. Coyote]

7. Misconduct that has exculpatory impact is criminal. This is serious inquiry now,

not just a dismissal of charges.

The reason the charges are being dismissed may be a big crime too.

[merh]

5. Did the judge ever enter an Order setting aside the jury verdict?

If he did not, the case is not yet over - the US Attorney cannot do anything more than move to dismiss, it is up to the court to dismiss, especially if the jury returned a verdict of guilty.

From what I recall, the judge was trying to decide what he was going to do on the Defendant's (Stevens') motion for new trial and that is why he had not yet sentenced Stevens.

Unless the court entered an order setting aside the guilty verdict, Stevens is still "guilty" in the eyes of the law.

There are three reasons why the judge may want the information he has requested. He may want to be sure that the defendant is entitled to have the case dismissed and he may want to file a complaint with Welch and Morris' state bar seeking that they be disciplined.

Also, there are statutes that allow defendants be reimbursed for the cost of prosecutions when they are acquitted. I don't know if Alaska has that law and I am not sure if there is a federal statute which allows it.

[Danascot]

12. Steven was guilty

The Bush DoJ prosecutors screwed up the case by not giving testimony they had to the defense as required by law.

[No Elephants]

16. Perhaps purposely.

[Tansy_Gold]

23. That was my first thought.

If you knew the defendant was guilty but had a reason to get the charges dismissed, just screw up your prosecution of the case.


Makes sense to me.



TG

[Hepburn]

24. Violation of Brady is a HUGE no-no!

If it was intentional, it could lead to atty discipline and not just a guilty defendant going free.

Gawd forbid it was part of a scheme amongst AUSAs to do this ~~ IMO, if so, they can kiss their butts good-bye.

The sad part is that Stevens most likely is guilty as sin.

:hi:

[elleng]

2. Sounds like he's REALLY pissed at the govt!!!

as well he should be.

[rwenos]

6. Sounds Like Judge Suspects Prosecutorial Misconduct

For a federal judge to issue an order like this, he must have some damn strong evidence of misconduct. Prosecutors have a duty to turn any exculpatory evidence over to the defense. Failure to do so is one of the only reasons prosecutors ever get their butts in a wringer before their state bar association. It's rare, baby.

Methinks Judge Sullivan is P I S S E D O F F.

[JJ]

8. my take also

sounds like the judge wants to know who to smack down, and how hard.

[elleng]

9. I think he does,

and he almost held them in contempt a couple times DURING trial, I think.

[No Elephants]

17. I thought Holder requested dismissal precisely bc of prosecutorial misconduct?

[spag68]

10. Stevens

My first thought when I heard about this dismissal, was that they made these mistakes on purpose so he could get off. Maybe I give them more credit then they deserve for being this Machiavellian, maybe not.

[Roy]

11. I've thought that all along....

Could the judge have information that the prosecution took a dive to get this guy off?

Sounds like this judge is not yet ready to throw in the towel on this one.

[mod mom]

22. but why would bushies bring this case forward in the 1st place if they didn't want to prosecute?

[Hepburn]

25. Assuming this is what went down ~~ the govt threw the case ~~

they may have had to have brought the case because the conduct was so flagrant. Hard to miss a cabin that suddenly becomes a two story mansion, IMO.

:hi:

[DebbieCDC]

26. If grand jury indited the Bush junta had no choice but to proceed

I honestly believe they fucked it up on purpose so Teddy would walk in the end. Of course, they gave up their careers for the "greater good" of the GOPuke. I hope they are disbarred and maybe, just maybe evidence will found to link WHO at DOJ gave the order for the attys to take a fall.

[xchrom]

13. what's going to happen -- along DOJ''s screw up -- is that there is a whole

more evidence that incriminates steven is going to pile up.

this could get interesting.

[Alcibiades]

14. I doubt the misconduct was on purpose

for the purpose of letting Stevens off. It may be because Bush/Cheney had lackeys such as Goddling staff the DoJ with ideologues rather than competent attorneys. I'd be interested to know who appointed the prosecutor.

It also may be on purpose because the Bush folks have set a record for lying to courts and figuring they will always get away with it. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to misconduct by the Bush DoJ. Holder should ask: if US attorneys are willing to withhold evidence in a high profile case, what else have they done? There needs to be a full scale investigation into the widespread misconduct at the DoJ over the last eight years.

[merh]

27. Go google the prosecutor's -

they were not lackey's - they were seasoned.

[midnight]

15. Why would the govt. withhold this information if they knew he

was guilty? And does anyone know what 302's are?

[izquierdista]

18. In its own bubbles??

Oh, that would be sua spumante. I wish lawyers would give up their Latin affectations that they use to make the law mysterious and justify their outrageous fees.

[No Elephants]

21. LOL. I prefer Sua Spumoni, but that's only bc I have a sweet tooth. Judges

don't charge fees, though and they are the only ones who get to do important legal stuff sua sponte.

I mind lawyers using Latin a lot less than I mind doctors using Latin and other mumbo jumbo, at least when they are talking to me about things that could kill me.

[No Elephants]

19. Here's to firing the Bushies, whether incompetent or Machiavellian. Don't know why Holder has

been keeping them around anyway. They get fired whenever the administration changes from Democrat to Republican or from Republican to Democrat. It's SOP, and this crowd was especially incompetent and especially willing to violate laws (but only for the greater glory of God, of course).

[Ian David]

20. Hopefully, we'll be prosecuting the prosecutor.

And that prosecution will lead right back to KKKarl Rove and The Bush Admin.