[Jonathan Adler, February 16, 2009 at 10:07pm] Trackbacks
DoJ Removes Stevens' Prosecution Team:

Politico reports that the Justice Department has removed the prosecution team that successfully prosecuted Senator Stevens and was then subsequently found in contempt of court for misconduct. Of note, the Justice Department denies the claims upon which the contempt charges were based.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. DoJ Removes Stevens' Prosecution Team:
  2. Sen. Stevens Prosecutors Held in Contempt:
zippypinhead:
Sadly, replacing the trial team may be a prudent move, because Judge Sullivan has apparently lost patience with the original staff. And depending how he rules, they could end up as witnesses being cross-examined about how they fulfilled their Brady and Giglio obligations to the defendant, among other things.

Incidentally, the members of the new team are, without exception, superstars. O'Brien and Jaffe, especially, are future first-ballot DOJ Hall-of-Famers (not that DOJ has a real hall of fame or anything). This suggests DOJ is taking the issue VERY seriously.
2.16.2009 10:24pm
Dave N (mail):
Incidentally, the members of the new team are, without exception, superstars.
When prosecuting a very power United States Senator, formerly 4th in line for the Presidency, I would hope members of the old team were superstars too.

Of course, I thought that when a sports Hall of Famer and celebrity pitchman was accused of savagely murdering his wife and another person, the Los Angeles County District Attorney would assign superstars, too.
2.17.2009 1:12am
NickM (mail) (www):
Dave - Bill Hodgman was a superstar. If he hadn't had a heart attack, he would have been lead trial counsel on that case.

Nick
2.17.2009 2:32am
Cousin Dave (mail):
Isn't this going to make Stevens' appeal a slam dunk? I don't see how an appeal court can ignore the fact that the prosecutorial team was found in contempt for a matter directly relating to the defense's rights of discovery. If the effect of all of this is that Stevens walks, public opinion of Washington might actually go below zero.
2.17.2009 4:39pm
Michael Ejercito (mail) (www):
It looks more and more like they railroaded a guilty man.
2.17.2009 9:04pm
Richard Aubrey (mail):
It would be easier, as one humorist suggested, for our elected representatives to wear NASCAR-like uniforms so we could see who their corporate sponsors are.
When a guy's obviously, slam-dunk guilty, does a prosecutor get lazy or cute?
Seems likely.
2.17.2009 10:01pm

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