Legal Commentary

Judge Holds Ted Stevens' Prosecutors in Contempt

By Jeralyn

Three federal prosecutors in the Ted Stevens' trial were held in contempt of court Friday for failing to comply with a federal court order to turn documents over to Stevens' defense team:

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan called it "outrageous" that government lawyers would ignore his deadline for turning over documents.

Last month, Sullivan told the Justice Department to turn over all its internal communications regarding a whistleblower complaint against the FBI agent leading the investigation into the former Alaska senator.

More...

The judge gave the prosecutors a chance to explain their disregard of his order. They had no excuse.

"That was a court order," he bellowed. "That wasn't a request. I didn't ask for them out of the kindness of your hearts. . . . Isn't the Department of Justice taking court orders seriously these days?"

..."That's outrageous for the Department of Justice -- the largest law firm on the planet," he said. "That is not acceptable in this court."

At the heart of it all:

Last month, Sullivan told the Justice Department to turn over all its internal communications regarding a whistleblower complaint against the FBI agent leading the investigation into the former Alaska senator. The agent, Chad Joy, complained about some Justice Department tactics during the trial, including not turning over evidence, and an "inappropriate relationship" between another agent working the case and the prosecution's star witness.

The judge is mulling his options as to sanctions.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 14, 2009 (boomark / email).