Prosecutors defend sending witness home to Alaska

The head of the Justice Department's Public Integrity section said in a court filing that it was his decision to send Williams home to Alaska because he and others in their office had serious concerns about his health. Williams, who oversaw renovations at Stevens' home in Girdwood for Veco Corp., was scheduled to testify in Stevens' trial but prosecutors sent him home the day the trial opened.

Monday, prosecutors drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who threatened sanctions and asked for a full explanation of what had happened. Sullivan said he was "flabbergasted" that the government team sent Williams home without telling him or the defense.

Stevens' team seized on the situation, calling for a mistrial and accusing prosecutors of withholding potential testimony from Williams that could help Stevens. They were especially interested in potential evidence that Williams worked far less on the home than other company employees have suggested in their testimony, including one of the company's bookkeepers who took the stand last week.

Such evidence could help Stevens knock holes in the government's theory that the Veco work done on his home was so extensive that he must have known he was getting benefits above and beyond the $160,000 his lawyers said he paid a separate contractor for the work done to double his home in size.

Prosecutors said that when Williams met with government lawyers to prepare for his testimony, it was apparent he had "serious, health-related issues that warranted medical attention." Between his Nov. 7, 2006, grand jury testimony and the present, Williams had become "almost unrecognizable," prosecutors wrote in their filings.

"Mr. Williams had lost a substantial amount of weight, his abdomen was distended (and had been previously drained of excess fluid), he appeared jaundiced, his face was gaunt, he had substantially aged, he had chronic coughing spells, and he was frequently short of breath."

He was so sick that William Welch, the head of the Justice Department's public integrity section, said he could hear Williams "wheezing and coughing" in the corridor in the Justice Department long before he walked past his office.

There was no nefarious intent in sending him home to Alaska, Welch said, and accused the Stevens defense team of "win-at-all-cost" tactics.

"At no time did the government intend to engage in any type of deception," he wrote.

The dispute over Williams dominated the proceedings Monday, although jurors never saw any of the discussions.

The Republican senator faces seven felony counts of failing to report on his Senate disclosure forms more than $250,000 worth of gifts and home renovations, chiefly from Veco and its chief executive officer, Bill Allen. Stevens, who is up for re-election Nov. 4, asked for a speedy trial so he'd have the opportunity to clear his name before Election Day.

Allen, the star witness, just took the stand this afternoon.

Four other witnesses took the stand Tuesday morning, including Stevens' former press secretary, Courtney Boone, who testified about inquiries she had received from a reporter about work done on the Stevens home. The reporter, Heather Resz, had called to ask about a tip she'd received alleging that Veco had built a deck on Stevens' home without paying for it.

Boone said that when she asked the senator about it, his response was "the same as mine. 'What?' Shock," she said. "He said I'd have to talk to Mrs. Stevens about it because she handled the work that was done at the house.

Boone testified she was told by Stevens' wife, Catherine Stevens, that the work was done by Christensen Builders. That contradicts evidence from a carpenter who told the jury yesterday that he was paid more than $4,000 by Veco to build the lower deck.

Resz, who worked for a now-shuttered weekly paper owned by Alaska Newspapers Inc., read jurors the statement she received from Boone. In it, Boone told Resz that Stevens' wife had taken out a line of credit to pay for the addition, and that the "modernization of their chalet included work on their deck."

Resz said she thought she had run into a dead end and didn't pursue the story.