Allen has said that Bob Persons, who served as Stevens' representative on the renovation of Stevens' modest A-frame cabin into a handsome two-story home, told him the senator's demand for bills was a ruse.
But Persons denies ever saying that to Allen, who has pleaded guilty to bribing state legislators.
"Did you ever say to Bill Allen, 'Bill, don't worry about getting a bill. Ted's just covering his ass,' " defense attorney Robert Cary asked Wednesday.
Laughing, Persons said, "No," and added, "That's crazy."
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/727561.html
|
|
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/556251.html
 |
|
Stevens' trial is contentious but fair
COMPASS: Other points of view
By MARGARET SIMONIAN
(10/14/08 22:57:56)
What
is going on with the Ted Stevens trial? We're into the fourth week of
endless outraged remarks, objections, motions and countermotions. The government is engaging in "intentional misconduct," says the defense team. "No
one has attempted to hide evidence," says the prosecution. U.S.
District Judge Emmet Sullivan gets into the act as well, delivering
admonishments and threats for sanctions. To
the casual observer it appears to be a three-ring circus. The reality,
though, is this is all normal for a high-stakes corruption trial. Ted
Stevens has his career and freedom on the line and his attorneys must
do anything and everything to win. Standard operating procedure for the
defense is to cry foul over every perceived transgression and insist on
a mistrial at every opportunity. In
fact, Stevens' lead defense lawyer Brendan Sullivan is well-known in
legal circles for his public fits of outrage over perceived
"prosecutorial misconduct" -- resulting in a 2006 admonishment by a
federal judge for making unsupported claims that prosecutors had
engaged in wrongdoing. The
Department of Justice lawyers are equally predictable. They have to
fight every defense motion, make dozens of their own, and act outraged
along the way. Our legal system doesn't always look pretty from the outside. But is Ted Stevens getting a fair trial? As a lawyer I believe the answer is an absolute yes. Here are the facts: Judge
Sullivan made pretrial rulings that leveled the playing field for the
defense, such as requiring the prosecution to turn over more evidence
than it is normally required to give to a defendant. No
one can say Judge Sullivan has ignored mistakes. He is focused on the
details, and his remedies to procedural errors have been as strict as,
or stricter than, the law requires. He has held the prosecutors to a
very high standard in order to ensure Ted Stevens gets a fair trial.
Judge Sullivan has carefully protected Ted Stevens' rights. Judge
Sullivan has stopped or delayed the trial to fully review the lawyers'
positions. (Incidentally, these in-trial, on-the-record conferences
also make a later appeal less likely to succeed.) It's
often hard for the casual observer to get a complete picture during the
trial because they have not been charged with listening to the dozens
of hours of testimony and weighing each piece of evidence. But the
twelve citizens, who have accepted this duty, will go into the jury
room, weigh the evidence and produce a fair verdict. That's our
American system of justice and it's worked very well for over 200
years. And
let's not forget that while most defendants in the criminal justice
system don't have the money or resources to go toe to toe with federal
government prosecutors, Stevens' interests are being carefully
protected by his six-figure defense team. Ted
Stevens' defense lawyers are the best in the world. His expert team has
done a thorough pretrial investigation, extensive motion work, crafty
procedural and trial maneuvers, and an analysis of jury behavior, at a
cost estimated to exceed $175,000/week. It is this preparation that has
kept the prosecutors on their heels. When
you take into account the ample resources of the Department of Justice,
it's like watching the Yankees play the Red Sox -- expensive player
payrolls and all. And most importantly, Judge Sullivan has proven to be
a hard-nosed and impartial umpire. Public
corruption trials always are full of bluster, charges and
countercharges but no matter what the verdict on Ted Stevens, justice
will be served.
Margaret Simonian was a defense attorney in the Pete Kott corruption trial. She is also a volunteer with and financial contributor to the Begich for Senate campaign. This piece was submitted in response to the Daily News editorial, "Stevens trial: Prosecution's shabby conduct undermines public confidence," (Oct. 10)."
   |  Contractor testifies at Stevens corruption trial By JESSE J. HOLLAND and TOM HAYS Oct 15 WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful businessman pressured a contractor to
withhold a hefty bill for renovations done on the mountain cabin of
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the contractor said Wednesday at the senator's
corruption trial. Augie Paone testified about a meeting with multimillionaire Bill Allen, chief of oil services company VECO Corp., in 2002 over the disputed $13,393 bill for carpentry and other work. Allen, who was overseeing the job for his old friend Stevens, "stated maybe I should eat the bill or look at it as a political contribution," the defense witness told jurors. "I was shocked," Paone said. "I knew I was in a bind because I knew I couldn't really do anything." Paone testified he eventually got paid months later by tacking Stevens' tab onto an invoice for a separate job at Allen's home. ... On cross-examination, Paone testified that it was clear that VECO workers were doing many of the upgrades that transformed a modest A-frame cabin into a handsome two-story home. He also said he was worried it might lead to trouble. "I was concerned that the senator wasn't getting billed for some of that stuff, and I was concerned something like this might happen," he testified. Paone was one of the final witnesses for the defense. It was unclear whether Stevens would testify. The judge has said he expects testimony, including that of three rebuttal witnesses from the government, to conclude this week. Closing arguments would begin early next week, followed by deliberations, he added. |
 | there were times, she testified in her father's trial Tuesday, that she
arrived in Girdwood late at night to find strange cars in front of the
chalet and people behind closed bedroom doors inside. One of those
people would be Veco chairman Bill Allen, the oil-field contractor "I slept on the couch," Covich said of one such occasion when none of the five bedrooms was available. Allen appeared in the morning and told her she could move to one of the upstairs bedrooms, she said. Another time, she said, "I was planning to make my stopover into my Dad's house," she said. "There were lights on, cars in the parking lot. It just got too creepy, so I just drove on." |
CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– LEGAL AFFAIRS
Oct. 15, 2008 – 12:20 p.m.
Stevens’ Defense Calls Final Character Witness
By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff
Sen. Ted Stevens ’ lawyers called their final character witness to the stand Wednesday — an Olympic Gold medalist and former sportscaster who testified about the Alaska Republican’s contributions to Olympic sports over three decades.
Donna de Varona told jurors at Stevens’ federal corruption trial in Washington that the senator, whom she had known for 33 years, had become the “go-to person” in Congress for issues related to Olympic sports and that Stevens had a reputation for consistency, loyalty, responsiveness and courage.
De Varona, who was a commentator for ABC Sports after her Olympic career ended, cited the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (PL 95-606), which was renamed 10 years ago in the senator’s honor because he shepherded the measure through Congress.
De Varona is the fifth and last character witness that Stevens, who is charged with failing to report more than $250,000 worth of gifts that he received from former VECO Corp., chief executive Bill Allen and others on his annual Senate financial disclosure forms, will be allowed to call at his trial, now in its fourth week.
Prosecutors took a similar tack with de Varona during cross-examination as they had with other character witnesses. Joseph Bottini, a federal prosecutor from Anchorage, asked de Varona whether she had any personal knowledge of the case or had been to Stevens’ home in Girdwood, Alaska. De Varona responded no in both cases. Bottini also asked de Varona whether she was aware of news reports that Stevens’ son Ben earned money for serving as executive director of the Special Olympics winter games held in Anchorage in 2000. She said she was not.
Sens. Orrin G. Hatch , R-Utah and Daniel K. Inouye , D-Hawaii, have already testified as character witnesses for Stevens, as have former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Gwen Sykes, a former Stevens staffer who is the chief financial officer at Yale University.
Stevens’ lawyers wanted to call 11 character witnesses but U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered them to pare back that number, saying that the court usually allows no more than three character witnesses.
Stevens’ wife, Catherine, is slated to testify Wednesday afternoon, as is Bob Persons, a local restaurant owner and friend of Stevens’ who the senator entrusted to oversee a massive renovation to his Girdwood home. Prosecutors contend that VECO paid many of the costs of that renovation. Those costs constitute much of the gifts that Stevens is accused of failing to disclose.
The 84-year-old senator could take the stand in his own defense later this week.
Justice Department lawyers also sought to poke holes Wednesday in the testimony of a contractor who Stevens’ lawyers put on the stand to demonstrate that the senator paid for all the bills he knew about in connection to his 2000-2001 home renovation.
“I was concerned that the senator wasn’t getting billed for some of that stuff, and I was concerned that something like this would happen,” Augie Paone, owner of Christensen Builders, told jurors during cross-examination.
Bottini got Paone to concede that VECO, a now-defunct oil-services company and Allen – not Stevens - paid him for several projects, such as installing garage shelves and new fireplace tiling at the senator’s home. Bottinni pointed out that such improvements, which were made after the initial renovation was complete, would have been difficult for the senator not to notice, implying that Stevens should have known he did not pay for those projects.
“VECO paid me for that,” Paone testified, referring specifically to the garage shelves project. “That was a VECO check.”
During direct examination Tuesday and
Wednesday, defense attorney Robert Cary questioned Paone about six
invoices he sent to Allen in 2000 and 2001, all but the last of which
Paone testified Catherine Stevens paid. Paone testified that he never
spoke to Stevens or his wife about a final unpaid balance of nearly
$14,000 for work he did at their home during the initial round of
renovations but that Allen later paid him for that work as part of a
renovation to Allen’s house that Paone was hired to help complete. Paone
also conceded during cross examination that his testimony on Tuesday in
some cases conflicted with his 2006 grand jury testimony and with an
account he gave to the FBI that same year. Paone told the FBI in 2006
that he estimated VECO had paid about $100,000 for improvements to
Stevens’ home, and Paone conceded Wednesday that he still thought that
was a reasonable estimate “I could see where $100,000 could go into it right away,” Paone told the jury. Paone
also testified that he knew that VECO provided labor and materials
associated with numerous other aspects of the renovation, including the
construction of a set of steel stairs, a steel balcony and fire escape
and some of the electrical costs associated with the project. Prosecutors
contend that VECO acted mostly like a general contractor, coordinating
the work of smaller subcontractors like Paone’s company, and that
–while Stevens may have paid some ancillary costs – there were many
other costs for which Stevens knowingly allowed VECO to pick up the
tab. Late Tuesday, Stevens’ lawyers again petitioned
the judge to throw out evidence related to a backup generator that they
contend Stevens asked VECO to install in 1999. Several government
witnesses have testified that VECO paid for the generator, which
Stevens is not specifically charged with failing to report but which
prosecutors contend demonstrates the “scheme” in which Stevens was
involved. The judge has yet to rule on that motion.
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002975201
Veco chief told Stevens contractor to ‘eat' bill, jury hears
By ERIKA BOLSTAD AND RICHARD MAUER
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- It would have been "business suicide" to cross the powerful Bill Allen, testified the carpenter who renovated Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Alaska and who said he was bullied into not sending the senator a final $13,393 bill.
Allen told him he should "eat" the final bill from the home renovations, testified Augie Paone, who took the stand Wednesday as a defense witness in the senator's corruption trial. Allen, the chief executive of Veco Corp., an oil field-services company that was one of Alaska's largest private employers before it was sold last year, was overseeing renovations at Stevens' home in Girdwood, Alaska, in 2000 and 2001.
Those renovations and other gifts are at the heart of the case against Stevens, whose corruption trial is in its fourth week. The 84-year-old Alaska Republican was charged with seven felony counts of making false statements on Senate financial-disclosure forms.
Paone objected to "eating" the bill and said so in a meeting with Allen, who told the carpenter he should "look at it as a political contribution," Paone said.
"At first I was shocked," Paone said. "I also tried to hold on to my composure. I knew I was in a bind, because I knew he had me in a spot where I really couldn't do anything."
Paone said he "thought about sending it over to the senator, but I knew it would be business suicide. I knew that I was between a rock and a hard place. I thought it was wiser - or better business sense on my side - to just leave it alone."
A few months later, Allen asked Paone's Christensen Builders to do work on his own house. Allen padded the bills at his home to compensate for the $13,393 that Paone lost on the Stevens remodel, the carpenter testified.
"The understanding was that I will do some work for you but you still owe me $13,000," Paone said in court. "I was adamant that I was going to get paid for that bill that he owed me."
Stevens' legal team used Paone, who came across as a straight shooter, to chip away at Allen's credibility. Allen, who was the star witness for the prosecution, has pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers as part of the wide-ranging corruption investigation that drew in Stevens. Allen hasn't been sentenced yet.
A major theme of the defense case has been that Stevens and his wife, Catherine, paid all the bills that they received, and that Allen and other friends hid the true cost of the renovations, done mostly while the couple was in far-off Washington.
Yet some of Paone's testimony to a 2006 grand jury countered that theory, said prosecutor Joe Bottini, an assistant U.S. attorney in Anchorage. He asked Paone to refer to what he told grand jurors two years ago when the case was under investigation.
Didn't he go back to do additional work on the Stevens place?
He did, Paone said. He went back to work on the garage floor as well as to build shelves, including ski racks. Veco paid that $2,700 bill, Paone acknowledged. He also did some tiling on a fireplace at Stevens' home, he said, and the $850 expense was charged to Allen as part of the renovation work he did on the Veco chief executive officer's home.
Prosecutors also argued that Stevens and his wife should have known that the work Paone was doing after the main remodel was something they should have paid him for, above and beyond the initial cost.
"This additional work that you did, months later, fixing the garage floor, putting the shelves up in the garage, the fireplace work, that was all work that anyone would notice, isn't it?" Bottini asked.
"I guess it would," Paone said.
"Didn't you tell the grand jurors that you always thought that someday something like this might happen?" Bottini asked.
"I was concerned that the senator wasn't getting billed for some of that stuff and I was concerned that something like this would happen," Paone said.
45 pages of news clippings Oct 7 - 15, 2008:
WATCH THE NEWS AS ARTICLES CLIPPINGS SLIDESHOW IN SCRIBD
 |  |
