Anchorage Daily News

Federal prosecutors revealed more evidence Monday in their case against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, detailing a new round of gifts that he allegedly failed to disclose between 2001 and 2003.

In a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the government 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 furnished Stevens' Girdwood home starting in 2000.

Monday's filings from each side asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to adopt its version of the case to be read to prospective jurors when they gather in two weeks for Stevens' trial in Washington, D.C. The statement of the case is supposed to be a neutral rendition of the issues at trial, but each side clearly jockeyed for advantage.

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

In a separate motion, Stevens' attorneys asked Sullivan to order the release of the medical records of Bill Allen, the 71-year-old former chairman of Veco, who suffered a head injury in a motorcycle accident in 2001. Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing state legislators and who is expected to be the chief witness against Stevens, said in testimony in state court last year that he had trouble speaking because of the accident, though he could think clearly.

Stevens' attorneys disclosed they had sought a voluntary authorization from Allen to allow them to inspect his medical records at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and at UCLA Health Systems in Los Angeles, where he was treated by a neurologist and neurosurgeon. Allen's lawyer, Bob Bundy, turned them down.

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

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

DEFENSE DISMISSES NEW LIST

In their version of the statement of the case, Stevens' lawyers devoted only a seven-word phrase in a single sentence to the renovations. They used more words for the newly reported items, but spoke dismissively of them.

"The government further alleges that Sen. Stevens knowingly and willfully failed to report an alleged gift of stained glass, knowingly and willfully failed to report an alleged gift of a dog, and knowingly and willfully failed to report an alleged gift of a chair," Stevens' attorneys wrote.

The chair wasn't just a chair, the government said, but a $2,695 massage chair given to Stevens by a friend identified only as "Person A." The chair was placed in Stevens' home in Washington, it said.

The stained glass wasn't just stained glass either. It was a "hand-designed, hand-constructed stained glass window built to specifications provided by the defendant and his spouse, but paid for by 'Person B' and given to Stevens in 2001."

And the dog wasn't just a mutt from the pound. It was an expensive sled dog Stevens got from "Person B" in 2003. The government alleged Stevens misrepresented the dog as a $250 gift from the nonprofit Kenai River Sportfishing Association, a group closely associated with his friend, Bob Penney. In his 2003 disclosure, Stevens said the dog was "an honorary award in recognition of public service" and that he had purchased its twin for $250.

In asking for authority to subpoena Allen's medical records, Stevens' attorneys said that "understanding the scope and severity of Allen's brain injury is highly significant to the preparation of the defense."

Citing his testimony in the trials of two legislators that resulted in convictions, the attorneys added, "History has shown that, when Allen is called as a government witness, the government typically begins by eliciting his testimony that he was involved in a motorcycle accident in 2001 that impacted his speech, but otherwise left his brain function unaffected. The defense is certainly entitled to test the accuracy of Allen's account and determine whether Allen's memory or ability to perceive were impacted when 'about a quarter' of Allen's brain 'died' in the accident," they said, using Allen's own descriptions of his injuries.

Find Richard Mauer online at adn.com/contact/rmauer or call 257-4345.

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