In a certificate filed in U.S. District Court Monday, trial attorney Peter Koski from the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section said the government had turned over "a broad range of materials" including FBI agent notes, interviews and grand jury transcripts.
It's unlikely that a large portion of the material is of the kind required to be given to defendants prior to trial, but it was turned over anyway "out of an abundance of caution," Koski wrote.
Kott and Kohring, serving prison time on corruption charges, were freed in June when prosecutors acknowledged the government had failed to turn over favorable information prior to and during their trials in 2007 as required by law. A similar issue resulted in dismissal of charges against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens but no judge has ruled on the significance of the material to the Kott and Kohring defenses.
U.S. District Judge John Sedwick, who presided over the Kott and Kohring trials in Anchorage, has asked the defense attorneys and prosecutors to file suggestions by the end of the month on what to do next.
Sedwick will eventually have to decide whether the evidence is so significant that it might have changed the results of the trials had it been turned over at the proper time. If so, he can order new trials or dismiss the charges.
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