Federal prosecutors who tried US Senator Ted Stevens in 2008 have lost an appeal against a contempt of court citation. US District Court judge Emmet Sullivan found the prosecutors in contempt in February of 2009 because they had not made certain documents available to Stevens’ attorneys.
Although Sullivan lifted the citation and did not apply penalties, US Justice Department attorneys Brenda Morris and William Welch appealed, saying the contempt finding was procedurally improper. But Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals disagreed and upheld the citation.
Stevens’ 2008 conviction on corruption charges was overturned because of the prosecutors’ mishandling of the case. Stevens died a year later in a plane crash.
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APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
