Anchorage Daily News

Three weeks before the corruption trial of former state Reps. Bruce Weyhrauch and Pete Kott is set to begin, Weyhrauch wants a judge to split his case from that of his co-defendant.

No one will say why.

The motion and supporting documents were filed under seal, out of public view. It's the same story with much of the legal maneuvering in the case. Lawyers involved say they couldn't talk about the issues even if they wanted to.

"There's a lot going on behind the scenes and it involves evidence that we can't discuss before the trial," said Doug Pope, one of Weyhrauch's attorneys.

The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5, though that could change. U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick has yet to rule on several sealed motions.

The corruption case involves accusations that officials with oil field services contractor Veco Corp. bribed the legislators to help push an oil-production tax favored by the industry through the Legislature in 2006.

Veco's former chief executive, Bill Allen, and vice president, Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy involving four legislators: Kott, Weyhrauch, indicted former Wasilla Rep. Vic Kohring and former Senate President Ben Stevens, who was described but not named in court documents. Kohring has an October trial date. Stevens hasn't been charged.

Allen and Smith are now cooperating with the government and are expected to be key witnesses at the trial. They've resigned from Veco.

It appears from the indictment that the FBI used electronic surveillance of Veco's suite in Juneau's Baranof Hotel to collect evidence.

Kott is accused of taking payoffs totaling $8,993 and the promise of a job from Veco in exchange for doing the company's bidding. Weyhrauch is accused of soliciting legal work from Veco.

Generally, one reason a defendant tries to split off his case is so he won't be tainted by his co-defendant, said Rex Butler, a prominent Anchorage criminal defense attorney not connected with the Kott-Weyhrauch case.

"First of all, one person might be really knee deep in the trouble while the other person is a surface player," Butler said. "The problem is, in a joint trial, if a juror takes one down, they almost always will take both people down."

The specifics of the accusations against Kott and Weyhrauch differ, though they were indicted together May 3 and face similar charges: conspiracy and bribery against both; extortion and wire fraud against Kott; attempted extortion and mail fraud against Weyhrauch.

Kott is described in the indictment as willingly doing Veco's bidding and meeting with Allen and Smith in the Baranof's Suite 604 to plot strategy.

As laid out in the indictment, Weyhrauch's role was smaller. But he is accused of following Kott and Allen's instruction to change his vote on an amendment opposed by the oil industry. He had mistakenly voted the wrong way, the indictment says.

The charging document quotes a conversation between Kott and Allen in Suite 604 after the amendment was defeated on May 7, 2006:

Kott: "I had to get 'er done. So, I had to come back and face this man right here," pointing to Allen. "I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie."

Allen: "I own your ass."

Co-defendants may want to point the finger at each other, but that can backfire in a joint trial, Butler said.

"Both parties will end up convicting each other," he said.

Defense lawyers also may end up stepping on each other's toes. And there can be problems with evidence when one defendant has made incriminating statements against the other, Butler said.

Plus, defense lawyers like looking like the little guy up against the government with all of its power and resources, Butler said. The image doesn't carry as well with a table full of defense lawyers.

Jim Wendt, who represents Kott, said he probably won't oppose the motion to sever the cases, but he won't join in, either.

As to Kott's defense, "You'll have to wait and see, but our defense is basically that our guy is not guilty," Wendt said.

Weyhrauch attorney Pope said that his client is innocent and never sold his votes.

Prosecutor Jim Goeke declined to comment on the upcoming trial or the maneuvering.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 5 with a bigger-than-normal pool of 120 potential jurors from Southcentral Alaska and beyond. Judge Sedwick has ordered that potential jurors be pre-screened with a questionnaire. It asks whether they know the defendants, lawyers or key witnesses; what they've read, seen or heard about the case; and whether they already have opinions about Kott and Weyhrauch.

Kott is a former House Speaker from Eagle River first elected in 1992 and defeated in the 2006 Republican primary. He now lives in Juneau. Weyhrauch is a Juneau attorney who served two terms and didn't run again in 2006.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.

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