Prosecutors reveal more evidence in Alaska senator probe - Oakland Tribune

Federal prosecutors revealed more evidence Monday in their caseagainst Sen. Ted Stevens, detailing a new round of gifts that heallegedly failed to disclose between 2001 and 2003.

In a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., thegovernment listed the items as a $1,000 sled dog, a $3,200 stained-glass window and a $2,695 massage chair. They are in addition to the$250,000-plus in labor and materials allegedly provided by the oil-field service company Veco Corp. when it renovated and furnishedStevens' Girdwood home starting in 2000.

Monday's filings from each side asked U.S. District Judge EmmetSullivan to adopt its version of the case to be read to prospectivejurors when they gather in two weeks for Stevens' trial inWashington, D.C. The statement of the case is supposed to be aneutral rendition of the issues at trial, but each side clearlyjockeyed for advantage.

Sullivan may choose one or the other, or draft his own version,steering somewhere between the advocates, who also submittedcompeting jury instructions Monday in advance of the trial.

In a separate motion, Stevens' attorneys asked Sullivan to orderthe release of the medical records of Bill Allen, the 71-year-oldformer chairman of Veco, who suffered a head injury in a motorcycleaccident in 2001. Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing statelegislators and who is expected to be the chief witness againstStevens, said in testimony in state court last year that he hadtrouble speaking because of the accident, though he could thinkclearly.

Stevens' attorneys disclosed they had sought a voluntaryauthorization from Allen to allow them to inspect his medicalrecords at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and at UCLAHealth Systems in Los Angeles, where he was treated by a neurologistand neurosurgeon. Allen's lawyer, Bob Bundy, turned them down.

Stevens has contended he is innocent and will be vindicated by ajury. He has asked for a speedy trial, hoping a verdict in his favorwould be rendered before the November election. Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator, is seeking his seventh full term; hefaces Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, on Nov. 4.

The government took a half-page in their document to describe theGirdwood renovations, telling how a floor was added to Stevens' homealong with a wrap-around deck, new rooms, and major electrical andplumbing work.

In their version of the statement of the case, Stevens' lawyersdevoted only a seven-word phrase in a single sentence to therenovations.