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| | Verdict!
Well, I called it. After a couple days of deliberation, the replacement of one juror who went off the radar after flying to Texas for a funeral with an alternate juror, and a weekend at home to ease tensions, the jury in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in the matter of U.S. v. Theodore F. Stevens came back with a verdict yesterday. Senator Stevens was charged with seven counts of making false statements as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1):(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; Specifically, the statute makes it a crime to knowingly fill out a federal form falsely. Count one of the indictment says Stevens "knowingly and willfully engaged in a scheme to conceal … his continuing reciept of thousands of dollars worth of things in value" from VECO Corp., an oil services contractor. Counts two through seven say he knowingly checked the NO box on financial disclosure forms for the years of 2001 through 2006, asking whether Stevens or his family received gifts valued at or more than $260.00, even though VECO paid to renovate his house, among other things.
As I quoted from Doonesbury a couple days ago:
Let's go to the AP article. As always, stuff that's important is in blue text, stuff that's really important is in blue and bold text, and stuff that's must-read is in red and bold text.
Stevens Convicted On All Counts
MATT APUZZO AND JESSE J. HOLLAND | October 27, 2008 04:10 PM EST | AP
WASHINGTON — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven corruption charges Monday in a trial that tainted the 40-year Senate career of Alaska's political patriarch. [My note: That's putting it mildly. I'd say it ENDED his career.]
The verdict, coming just days before Election Day, adds further uncertainty to a closely watched Senate race. Democrats hope to seize the once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Stevens, 84, was convicted of all seven charges he faced of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday at noon.
Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each count when he is sentenced Jan. 26, but under federal sentencing guidelines, he is likely to receive much less prison time, if any. [My note: ::deep sigh:: I really wish we could see a judge come down hard on a Senator or someone powerful and say "What you did is a betrayal of public trust. If it were up to me, I'd give you consecutive maximum sentences totaling 35 years in jail. As it is, I'm bound by federal sentencing guidelines and sentence you to a year and a half. Enjoy prison!" *bang of gavel*]
The monthlong trial revealed that employees for oil services company VECO Corp. transformed the senator's modest mountain cabin into a modern, two-story home with wraparound porches, a sauna and a wine cellar. Stevens never paid for VECO's work.
The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens said he had no idea he was getting freebies. He said he paid $160,000 for the project and said he believed that covered everything. [My note: Just like Capt. Renault had no idea that there was a casino at Rick's, right?  And I have a very hard time believing that the renovation was done without foreknowledge of what would be done to his house. And who thinks that $160,000 will cover the building of a second story, wraparound porches, and a wine cellar. The cost of labor alone for that project would easily be $100,000!]
Stevens asked for an unusually speedy trial, hoping he'd be exonerated in time to return to Alaska and win re-election. He kept his campaign going and gave no indication that he had a contingency plan in case of conviction. [My note: Denial does funny things to people.]
Despite being a convicted felon, he is not required to drop out of the race or resign from the Senate. If he wins re-election, he can continue to hold his seat because there is no rule barring felons from serving in Congress. The Senate could vote to expel Stevens on a two-thirds vote. [My note: IF Stevens is reelected, and the Senate expels him, that means Sarah Palin picks Alaska's next senator. And I'd lay good money that she'll pick herself. GAG! GAG! She might as well, given that her political career is over. More on this paragraph later. EDIT: Never mind. See below.]
"Put this down: That will never happen -- ever, OK?" Stevens said in the weeks leading up to his trial. "I am not stepping down. I'm going to run through and I'm going to win this election. [My note: As I recall, he also said he'd be exonerated at the beginning of the trial. Funny how that goes.]
Democrats, who are hoping to capture a filibuster-proof Senate majority, have jumped at the chance to seize the once reliably Republican seat. They have invested heavily in the race, running television advertisements starring fictional FBI agents and featuring excerpts from wiretaps.
Stevens' conviction hinged on the testimony of Bill Allen, the senator's longtime drinking and fishing buddy. Allen, the founder of VECO, testified that he never billed his friend for the work on the house and that Stevens knew he was getting a deal.
Stevens spent three days on the witness stand, vehemently denying that allegation. He said his wife, Catherine, paid every bill they received. [My note: Shouldn't the first clue of getting freebies from VECO have been … you know, not receiving any bills for services rendered at all?]
Living in Washington, thousands of miles away, made it impossible to monitor the project every day. Stevens relied on Allen to oversee the renovations, he said, and his friend deceived him by not forwarding all the bills. [My note: Oh, please! He expected the jury to buy that?]
Stevens is a legendary figure in Alaska, where he has wielded political influence since before statehood. His knack for steering billions of dollars in federal money to his home state has drawn praise from his constituents and consternation from budget hawks. [My note: How does that go? "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)] Okay, now my thoughts. First off, Sen. Stevens is an egotistical schmuck who's getting what he deserves. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be substantial jail time. So what does this mean? First off, Mark Begich, the Democratic candidate in the 2008 Alaska Senate race now has a huge advantage. All he has to do is run ads with Sen. Stevens' face and the word GUILTY stenciled over it, and it's very probable that he'll win. But, what if, by some miracle, Sen. Stevens pulls it off, and ekes out a win? Well, two things are possible. One, he resigns. Not likely. Two, the Senate expels him. Given that it looks like the Dems will have overwhelming numbers, it's very possible they'll have the 2/3 majority needed to expel a member of the Senate – that is, 60 votes – as all they really need is to convince two or three moderate Republicans that expulsion is in the best interest of the body as a whole.
Now, if that happens, I think it's entirely likely (if not probable) that Gov. Palin will appoint herself as Stevens' successor and resign from the Governor's Office of Alaska, should she and John McCain lose the presidential election. Honestly, its the only chance she's got of salvaging her political career. Since she was nominated McCain's running mate, her political cred in Alaska and across the nation have gone down the tubes. You can bet the Alaskan Legislature will marginalize her for the rest of her term, and she will be defeated should she run for reelection. As for her party, well … despite the "If you were against Palin after the primary, you're out of the Party" talk, odds are the national party (and most likely the Alaskan Republican Party as well) will treat her as a pariah. EDIT: Never mind. After Gov. Murkowski caused a lot of waves by appointing his daughter to complete his term after he resigned from the Senate in order to take office as governor (leading to accusations of nepotism), the people of Alaska passed a referendum in 2004 that amended the state constitution, which requires the Governor to call a special election in order to fill the vacant seat. Looks like Sarah's royally fucked.
Lets focus on Sen. Stevens himself. Alaska is one of 20 states (the others are: Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) that disenfranchise those convicted of a felony – that is, a crime punishable with a year or more imprisonment, while serving sentence in prison. Once their sentence (and parole, if applicable) is completed, the right to vote is returned to them. So what does Alaska law specifically say? The Constitution of Alaska (Article V § 2) strips citizens convicted of felonies involving "moral turpitude" of the right to vote until they've completed their sentence and/or parole. So the question is, does "moral turpitude" include violating 18 U.S.C. 1001? Let's look at the relevant portion of the Alaska law (Alaska Stat. 15.60.010(8)):"felony involving moral turpitude" includes those crimes that are immoral or wrong in themselves such as murder, manslaughter, assault, sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor, unlawful exploitation of a minor, robbery, extortion, coercion, kidnapping, incest, arson, burglary, theft, forgery, criminal possession of a forgery device, offering a false instrument for recording, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records, commercial bribe receiving, commercial bribery, bribery, receiving a bribe, perjury, perjury by inconsistent statements, endangering the welfare of a minor, escape, promoting contraband, interference with official proceedings, receiving a bribe by a witness or a juror, jury tampering, misconduct by a juror, tampering with physical evidence, hindering prosecution, terroristic threatening, riot, criminal possession of explosives, unlawful furnishing of explosives, promoting prostitution, criminal mischief, misconduct involving a controlled substance or an imitation controlled substance, permitting an escape, promoting gambling, possession of gambling records, distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography; Hmm. Sure sounds like it does. According to Alaskan law, deregistration from the voting rolls is automatic upon conviction. However, to be "officially" convicted in the federal courts is a bit different than how the Alaska Superior Court works. So the real question is, is Sen. Stevens actually a "felon" under the law, as he hasn't actually been sentenced yet – and won't be until February – to say nothing of the appeals you know he'll file to try to avoid having that on his record; and if he is, doesn't that mean that he can't vote next week, as disenfranchisement under Alaskan law occurs immediately after conviction?
Another interesting note — given that in a lot of states, one needs to be an eligible voter in order to run for office. So I did some digging. The official Alaska candidate handbook [http://www.elections.alaska.gov/forms/b05.pdf] says one of the qualifications of being a candidate for office in the State of Alaska is that: "…the candidate is a qualified voter as required by law." So if Sen. Stevens is a felon under Alaskan law (and thus is ineligible to vote), surely he can't run for office? So does that mean he'll have to withdraw from the race? Hmm.
Please note: I'm not a lawyer. The above are just theories based on my humble interpretation of the law. The ability to untangle that is why lawyers earn lots of money. | | | Posted 10/28/2008 10:33 AM - 160 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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