Judge refuses to throw out Stevens corruption case

Source: Yahoo news/AP

WASHINGTON - The federal judge overseeing the corruption trial of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens refused his lawyers' requests Wednesday to throw out the case and indicated a flurry of last-minute legal motions and inquiries won't stop the trial from beginning this month.

"The defendant asked for a speedy trial, and a speedy trial is what the defendant will get," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said.

Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, is scheduled to stand trial in two weeks on charges of lying in Senate disclosure records about hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations he received from VECO Corp., an oil pipeline services company. VECO Corp. is now owned by Denver-based CH2M Hill.

Stevens, 84, has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts and has pushed to get his trial completed before Alaskans vote Nov. 4 on his re-election.

Stevens did not appear at the hearing, but his lawyers have aggressively pushed several motions for dismissal, including an argument that the statute of limitations had expired for some of the charges.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_go_co/stevens_investigation

:rofl:

Um, when your defendant is 84 a speedy trial is a necessity for the prosecutor, just saying.

Not that I want to hear it. Wink wink.

I love DU. I didn't know Palin was associated with him. What a great forum.