Stevens Again Asks Judge For Mistrial, Says Prosecutors Concealed Evidence

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Attorneys for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) filed paperwork Sunday night again asking the court to declare a mistrial or dismiss the seven-count indictment against the Senate's longest-serving Republican.

Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of "intentional misconduct" and concealing evidence that could have proved Stevens' innocence.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected a similar motion from the defense Thursday last week but rebuked prosecutors for making an 11th hour disclosure about FBI interviews with the government's star witness, former VECO CEO Bill Allen. Stevens' attorneys filed the motion after they received the interview documents on Friday.

Stevens, who is seeking a seventh term, was indicted on July 29 for filing false financial disclosure forms from 1999-2006. Federal prosecutors said he "knowingly and willfully engaged in a scheme to conceal" bribes from oil services company VECO, including $250,000 worth of gifts and renovations for his Alaska home.

Allen testified last Tuesday about his close friendship with Stevens, and gifts he gave to the senator such as a $6,000 electric generator and a swap of a 1999 Land Rover worth $44,000 for Stevens' 1964 Mustang and $5,000.

Defense attorneys have argued that Stevens had paid $160,000 for the renovations. They have also said Stevens' wife was the one in charge of managing payments for the renovations, and that a 40-year veteran senator would not "sudden[ly] in the 75th year of his life... want to go out and become a criminal?"