Stevens Trial Witness: I Lied About Immunity Deal

[babylonsister]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/stevens_witness_i_lied_about_i.php

Stevens Witness: I Lied About Immunity Deal
By Zachary Roth - November 21, 2008, 4:30PM


A witness who testified against Ted Stevens has said in a letter to the judge that he falsely denied on the stand that he had an immunity deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony.

The witness, David Anderson, a welder who worked on the Alaska senator's home, wrote in the letter that his testimony that there was no immunity agreement "is simply not true". And he wrote that prosecutors "instructed me on how to sugar coat and get it swept under the rug during the trial."

The letter was filed today by defense lawyers.

Stevens was convicted on seven counts of having lied on his Senate disclosure forms about gifts he received from an oil-services contractor. Earlier this month, he lost his bid for re-election to the Senate.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

1. Criminal law is not my strong point, but

I fail to see how this helps Stevens at all. A witness with immunity is more damaging than a witness without immunity, since the grant of immunity gives incentive to shade the truth if not fabricate.

[rug]

3. If true, the jury was deprived of significant evidence on which to weigh his testimony.

[gratuitous]

2. Deliberate prosecutorial misconduct?

It looks like Stevens' speedy trial gambit failed. The disqualified juror stunt similarly came a cropper. Now we get the tainted testimony caper. Too bad Stevens has already lost his race; although I'm quite sure that there will be those on the Republican side who think that a re-run of the race will be the only fair way to treat Stevens. (Not that it will do any good, but it will give them something to yammer about, which is their favorite thing to do.)