Ted Stevens, Former Senator From Alaska, Dies in Plane Crash

Ted Stevens, Former Senator From Alaska, Dies in Plane Crash

Former United States Senator Ted Stevens was killed in a plane crash in southwestern Alaska on Monday night, a former member of Mr. Stevens's Congressional staff said on Tuesday.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na

You might recall that Stevens' conviction on federal charges was vacated via a motion based on investigative and prosecutorial misconduct and submitted to the court on behalf of Attorney General Eric Holder... who stated, at the time: "It's my job to do the right thing." There are some amazing similarities between the Stevens and Peltier cases.

Parallels between the Stevens and Peltier Cases

Note: Stevens was convicted on October 27, 2008, and Peltier was convicted on April 19, 1977, both prior to Eric Holder assuming his duties and responsibilities as U.S. Attorney General.

Manufacturing of evidence

· Evidence shows that the FBI shortly before the Stevens trial intentionally procured from its key witness Allen a contradictory, inculpatory statement and produced that statement to the defense.
· Peltier’s 1976 extradition was based on the finding of both direct and circumstantial evidence, the alleged direct evidence being found in two affidavits sworn by Myrtle Poor Bear who claimed to be an eyewitness to the shootings.
· At the trial of Peltier’s co-defendants, FBI Special Agent Gary Adams testified to the presence and departure of a red pickup truck at 12:18 p.m., moments after the agents were shot. Adams denied the existence of the 12:18 p.m. red pickup truck at Peltier’s trial.
· At Peltier’s 1977 trial, the FBI ballistic expert Evan Hodge testified that he had been unable to perform the best test, a firing pin test, on certain casings found near Agent Coler's car because the alleged murder weapon in question had been damaged in a fire. Instead, he stated that he had conducted an extractor mark test and found the
casing and weapon to match.
· At trial, the prosecutor, referring to the murder weapon, stated that, "There is only one AR-15 in the group. There is no testimony concerning any other AR-15 at Tent City or at the crime scene or anywhere else in the area…"
· During trial, the FBI produced approximately 3,500 documents concerning the investigation and claimed that these were the only documents in existence.

Intentional concealment of exculpatory evidence

· The government prosecutors and FBI agents intentionally withheld and concealed exculpatory statements made by the government’s “star” witness Bill Allen during the two years leading up to the Stevens trial.
· Two witnesses had provided to the government clear testimony that the accounting records presented at trial were false. That testimony was concealed.
· After the Peltier extradition hearing, it was learned that there was a Poor Bear affidavit that predated and contradicted the two affidavits produced at the extradition hearing. In the third affidavit, Ms. Poor Bear stated that she had not seen the shooting, but had left the Pine Ridge Reservation before the shooting of the FBI agents occurred.
· No 302s were allowed entered as evidence during Peltier’s trial if the agent who wrote it testified.
· Years after Peltier’s 1977 trial, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showed that in October 1975, a firing pin ballistic test had indeed been performed on the AR-15 rifle alleged to be Peltier’s weapon and that the results were clearly negative. In short, the fatal bullets did not come from Leonard Peltier’s weapon.
· According to FOIA documents, the government misled the jury by concealing evidence of the presence of other AR-15 rifles, and thus other potential murder weapons, at the crime scene.
· Through a FOIA request, Peltier learned that some 12,000 documents had been withheld at trial. Six thousand documents were ordered released. Despite the FBI's claim that only 6,000 full documents related to this case remained undisclosed–and that these were merely "administrative" documents, of no use to the defense team–it has been discovered that the government continues to hide over 140,000 case documents.

Preventing witness testimony

· The government sought to prevent the defense from calling two witnesses to the stand at the Stevens trial—sending one witness to Alaska (out of reach) while hiding the whereabouts of the second witness whom the defense had sought to serve with a subpoena.
· The Peltier jury was not permitted to learn of the FBI’s pattern and practice of using false affidavits and intimidating witnesses in recent related cases where such evidence had been admitted. The jury was thus unable to properly evaluate the credibility of prosecution witnesses’ testimony.
· Poor Bear confessed she had given false affidavits after being terrorized by FBI agents. The government argued against putting her on the stand—on the grounds of mental incompetence—when she sought to testify in this regard at Peltier’s trial.

Violating a court order

· The government withheld documents from the defense in direct violation of various court orders issued by the Stevens trial judge.
· Prior to the trial of co-defendants Butler and Robideau, Judge Bogue ordered that evidence, including “ballistics evidence” and grand jury testimony, be produced by the government. After transfer of the case to the Northern District of Iowa for trial, Judge McManus ordered that both his and Bogue’s pre-trial orders on discovery were to apply to Peltier. The government defied those orders.

Making false representations to the court

· After concealing documents and manufacturing others, the government then concealed its actions and made affirmative misrepresentations to the Court and the Stevens defense.
· During the pre-trial phase in the Peltier case, the government prosecutor stated, “There has been literally total disclosure in this case... In fact, all the documents, literally all the 302s literally are within their possession right now.”