Would you say this had major implications?

[adymond]

Stevens is from Alaska. Who else was tied to Stevens because they were from Alaska? Wasn't that part of the reason for the hatred? A culture of corruption or some such (which color me stupid, but I thought that would have had more of an impact on the candidate at the top who came from Chifreakingcago)? Well it seems he may have been robbed and this should be a BIG freaking deal.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29988577

Justice Department seeks to drop Stevens case
Evidence was withheld from the former senator's defense team

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department said Wednesday it would drop corruption charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens because prosecutors withheld evidence from the senator's defense team during his trial.

The reversal is an embarrassment for the department, which won a conviction against the Alaska Republican in October and is now asking to overturn it.

The week after his conviction, Stevens lost his Senate seat in the November election. The patriarch of Alaska politics since before statehood, Stevens, 85, was also the longest serving Republican senator.

He has been awaiting sentencing.

Stevens was convicted of seven felony counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations from a wealthy oil contractor.

The trial was beset by government missteps, which continued even after the guilty verdict was read. The trial judge grew so infuriated he took the unusual step of holding the Justice Department in contempt.

In court filings, the Justice Department admitted it never turned over notes from an interview with the oil contractor, who estimated the value of the renovation work as far less than he testified at trial.

"I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement released Wednesday. He said the department must ensure that all cases are "handled fairly and consistent with its commitment to justice."

The Justice Department is investigating the conduct of the prosecutors who tried the Stevens case.

Sen. Mark Begich, the Democrat who won Stevens' seat away from him, called the decision to drop the case "reasonable."

"I didn't think Senator Stevens should serve time in jail and hopefully this decision ensures that is the case," Begich said in a statement.

In December, Stevens asked a federal judge to grant him a new trial or throw out the case, saying his trial had many deficiencies.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan held Justice Department lawyers in contempt in February for failing to turn over documents as ordered. He called their behavior "outrageous."

Sullivan had ordered Justice to provide the agency's internal communications regarding a whistle-blower complaint brought by an FBI agent involved in the investigation of Stevens. The agent objected to Justice Department tactics during the trial, including failure to turn over evidence and an "inappropriate relationship" between the lead agent on the case and the prosecution's star witness.

The Justice Department has since assigned a new team of prosecutors to the case.

Reached at his office early Wednesday by the Anchorage Daily News, Stevens' lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, told the newspaper he had not yet been informed of the decision by Justice.

Messages for Stevens' lawyers from The Associated Press were not returned early Wednesday morning.

The decision was first reported Wednesday by National Public Radio.

WTF is going on. I thought he was guilty, but now I am wondering if he is getting railroaded.

[PocketProtector]

Surprised?

[Dredly]

If I were Stevens I would sue and demand that everyone involved be dis-barred!

[CcDesign]

Not suprised at all. More suprising is that you found it on MSNBC. I thought for sure that the MSM would not have picked this up....at all. Still waitin to see if it comes up on the World News on any of the Big3 MSM.

[LittleRedToyota]

cnn has a story on it, too...top story as of right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/...ped/index.html

why anyone still has any faith in our legal system is somewhat beyond me...

[imperialism2024]

[rant]But remember, the death penalty can be trusted to the American criminal justice system. It's worthwhile for 10 innocent men to be executed than for one guilty man to go free. Er, wait a minute...[/rant]

[stephpd]

Doesn't look good for the prosecutor. Held in contempt during the trial.

Looks like Holden is doing his best to do a cover up, brush aside. It's nice of him not to want a retrial.

But I doubt that Steven's will get his job back.

[Brick]

So the prosecutor failed to release exculpatory evidence. Sounds to me like the prosecutor should be serving Stevens' jail term. Meanwhile, who does Stevens recoup his reputation, much less his job?