Prosecutors are being accused of gross misconduct in the 2008 trial of Senator Ted Stevens. The depth to which prosecutors went to intentionally conceal evidence has shocked lawmakers. Federal District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan found “serious, widespread and at times intentional” covering up of evidence by the Justice Department. The evidence could have helped Stevens prove his innocence.
Stevens was killed in a plane crash in 2010. The Alaska senator was convicted of failing to report a gift from an oil company executive and lost his bid for re-election shortly thereafter. A year after Steven’s death, an FBI agent offered an affidavit asserting prosecutorial misconduct. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. reacted by setting aside Steven’s conviction but not before the damage to Steven’s political career was already done.
The department has a separate inquiry that must point the way to repairing the public integrity section, which is responsible for prosecuting public officials.
Senator Ted Stevens served Alaska for over 40 years
Judge orders investigation into Justice Department procedures
Judge Sullivan presided at the trial and dismissed the senator’s conviction in 2009. He ordered an intensive investigation by an outside attorney into whether criminal contempt charges should be brought against the prosecutors. The judge cited the finding last week that the prosecution was “permeated by the systematic concealment of significant exculpatory evidence which would have independently corroborated” Mr. Stevens’s defense.
Despite those findings, no charges were recommended because, the investigation noted, Judge Sullivan did not specifically order prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence. This technicality raises questions of whether something more explicit may be required in evidence law.
The Stevens trial remains a tragedy that saw one of the prosecutors commit suicide. Judge Sullivan’s inquiry contributes significantly to a full airing of woeful misconduct, but the Justice Department must act forcefully to repair the damage.
