The Justice Department’s troubled Alaska corruption probe took another major hit Thursday, as a three-judge appeals panel threw out the conviction of former state Rep. Pete Kott (R) and remanded to the district court for a new trial, the Alaska Dispatch reported.
Pete Kott (AKRepublicans.org)
The panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government withheld crucial evidence from defense attorneys, a now-familiar refrain in the DOJ probe. Earlier this month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the conviction of former state Rep. Victor Kohring (R) for the same reason.
And in the most celebrated case, DOJ decided to drop a case against the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Stevens had been convicted of failing to report gifts in disclosure documents.
In the Kott case, the court said, “There is no doubt…that the prosecution suppressed evidence favorable to the defense.” That information includes evidence that prosecution witness Bill Allen had sexually exploited minor girls and that he had solicited perjury to conceal that fact. The evidence, at the very least, could have been used under cross examination to impeach Allen’s credibility.
U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick had ruled that the evidence would not have affected the outcome of the trial, but the 9th Circuit judges disagreed, saying that, “there is a reasonable probability that. had the evidence been disclosed to the defense, the result of the proceeding would have been different.”
One of the judges blasted DOJ for its conduct during the corruption probe. Betty B. Fletcher, in a dissenting opinion, wrote: “I am deeply troubled by the government’s lack of contrition in this case.” She added, according to the newspaper: “The government’s stance on appeal leads me to conclude that it still has failed to fully grasp the egregiousness of its misconduct, as well as the importance of its constitutionally imposed discovery obligations.”
In her dissent, Fletcher wrote that a new trial is an insufficient remedy and the charges against Kott should be dismissed with prejudice.
By all accounts, the Alaska corruption probe has been a major embarrassment for DOJ. Earlier this month, Alaska’s senior Senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, pointedly asked Attorney General Eric Holder whether DOJ had decided not to prosecute Allen on charges that he abused a 15-year-old girl because he had cooperated in the probe. Holder denied any political motivation, but Murkowski said she would pursue the matter further.
