Editing Ted Stevens (section)

===Convictions voided and indictment dismissed===
On April 1, 2009, on behalf of U.S. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]], Paul O'Brien submitted a "Motion of The United States To Set Aside The Verdict And Dismiss The Indictment With Prejudice" in connection with case No. 08-231. Federal judge [[Emmet G. Sullivan]] soon signed the order. During the trial, Sullivan had expressed anger after Allen, the prosecution's witness, recounted a note Stevens sent him insisting that a bill for work Veco had done be sent to Stevens. Allen said that Persons subsequently told him that Stevens was just "covering his ass".<ref name ="Bolstad & Mauer">{{cite news|url=http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/stevens/story/743906.html|title=U.S. attorney general ends Stevens prosecution: Former Sen. Ted Stevens|work=[[Anchorage Daily News]]|access-date=June 20, 2010|url-status=dead|first1=Erika|last1=Bolstad|first2=Richard|last2=Mauer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123234422/http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/stevens/story/743906.html|archive-date=January 23, 2010}}</ref> Holder, who had taken office only three months earlier, stated that it was "in the interest of justice" not to hold a new trial,<ref name="abctrial">{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7235615&page=1|title=Holder urges Ted Stevens' conviction reversed|website=ABC News|access-date=10 May 2023|archive-date=May 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510180759/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7235615&page=1|url-status=live}}</ref> adding that he was "horrified".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/the-strong-message-attorney-general-eric-holder-sent-to-all-federal-prosecutors-when-he-dismissed-the-indictment-against-senator-ted-stevens-and-the-apparent-basis-for-the-dismissal.html|title=The Strong Message Attorney General Eric Holder Sent to All Federal Prosecutors When He Dismissed the Indictment Against Senator Ted Stevens, and the Apparent Basis for the Dismissal|website=Findlaw|access-date=10 May 2023|archive-date=May 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528013300/https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/the-strong-message-attorney-general-eric-holder-sent-to-all-federal-prosecutors-when-he-dismissed-the-indictment-against-senator-ted-stevens-and-the-apparent-basis-for-the-dismissal.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After Sullivan held the prosecutors in contempt, Holder replaced the entire trial team, including top officials in the public integrity section. The discovery of a previously undocumented interview with Allen raised the possibility prosecutors had knowingly allowed Allen to [[perjury|perjure]] himself. Allen said the [[fair market value]] of the repairs to the Stevenses' house was around $80,000, considerably less than the $250,000 he said it cost at trial.<ref name ="legaltimes">{{Cite web|url=https://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/04/doj-wants-charges-against-ted-stevens-dismissed.html|title=DOJ Wants Charges Against Ted Stevens Dismissed|website=The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times|access-date=10 May 2023|archive-date=May 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528013300/https://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/04/doj-wants-charges-against-ted-stevens-dismissed.html|url-status=live}}</ref> More seriously, Allen said in the interview that he didn't recall talking to Persons, a friend of Stevens, regarding the repair bill for the Stevenses' house. Even without the notes, Stevens's attorneys claimed Allen was lying about the conversation.<ref name ="Bolstad & Mauer"/>

Later that day, Stevens's attorney, [[Brendan Sullivan (lawyer)|Brendan Sullivan]], said Holder's decision was forced by "extraordinary evidence of government corruption". He also claimed that prosecutors not only withheld evidence but "created false testimony that they gave us and actually presented false testimony in the courtroom".<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawyer says prosecutors' request has 'cleared' Stevens|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/01/stevens.case.dropped/index.html|agency=[[CNN]]|date=April 1, 2009|access-date=April 1, 2009|archive-date=April 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402081337/http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/01/stevens.case.dropped/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 7, 2009, Judge Sullivan formally accepted Holder's motion to set aside the verdict and throw out the indictment, declaring, "There was never a judgment of conviction in this case. The jury's verdict is being set aside and has no legal effect", and calling it the worst case of prosecutorial misconduct he'd ever seen.<ref>United States of America v. Theodore F. Stevens No. 1:08-cr-00231-EGS Document 324 Filed 04/01/2009 @ {{cite web|url=https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/doc1/04512482916 |title=District of Columbia live database |access-date=2010-12-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111615/https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/doc1/04512482916 |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> He also initiated a criminal contempt investigation of six members of the prosecution. Although an internal investigation by the [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] was already underway, Sullivan said he was not willing to trust it due to the "shocking and disturbing" nature of the misconduct.<ref name=Wilber>Wilber, Del Quentin. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110204212634/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040700338.html Judge Tosses Out Stevens Conviction]". 'The ''Washington Post''. April 7, 2009. Stevens's deliverance was cited by ''[[Times-Picayune]]'' ([[New Orleans]]) columnist [[James Gill (columnist)|James Gill]] as encouraging an organization called "Friends of Congressman [[William J. Jefferson]]" that the indicted [[U.S. Representative]], who formerly represented [[Louisiana's 2nd congressional district]] before being ousted by [[Joseph Cao|Anh "Joseph" Cao]] in 2008, could likewise avert conviction. James Gill, [http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1239513832203640.xml&coll=1 Jefferson's friends an optimistic bunch], {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20130104035841/http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1239513832203640.xml&coll=1 |date=January 4, 2013 }} ''Times-Picayune'', April 12, 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B5.</ref>

In 2012, the Special Counsel report on the case was released. It said,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=New York Times|date=March 15, 2012|title=Report Details Inner Workings of Troubled Ethics Trial of Senator|author1=Charlie Savage|author2=Michael S Schmidt}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The investigation and prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens were permeated by the systematic concealment of significant exculpatory evidence which would have independently corroborated Senator Stevens's defense and his testimony, and seriously damaged the testimony and credibility of the government's key witness.| Special Counsel Report<ref>{{cite web|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/325801/court-report-on-stevens-ethics-case.pdf|title=Court report on Stevens|website=documentcloud.org|date=March 15, 2012|access-date=10 May 2023|archive-date=October 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024114040/https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/325801/court-report-on-stevens-ethics-case.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Upon the release of the Special Counsel report, the Stevens defense team released an analysis of its own, which said, "The meticulous detail paints a picture of the government's shocking conduct in which prosecutors repeatedly ignored the law. The Report shows how prosecutors abandoned their oath of office and the ethical standards of their profession. They abandoned all decency and sound judgment when they indicted and prosecuted an 84-year old man who served his country in World War{{spaces}}II combat, and who served with distinction for 40 years in the U.S. Senate."<ref>{{cite news|title=GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION CONFIRMED BY COURT-ORDERED INVESTIGATION|url=http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/williams-connolly-analysis.pdf|date=March 15, 2012|access-date=March 17, 2012|archive-date=July 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725115754/http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/williams-connolly-analysis.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

A statement issued by Stevens's widow Catherine said, "I can say that the Stevens family continues to be shocked by the depth and breadth of the government's misconduct."<ref>{{cite news|title=Schuelke-Shields Report: Statement from Catherine Stevens|url=http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2012/03/schuelke-shields-report-statement-from-catherine-stevens.html|date=15 March 2012|access-date=17 March 2012|archive-date=March 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320070625/http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2012/03/schuelke-shields-report-statement-from-catherine-stevens.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mark Bonner, associate professor of law at [[Ave Maria School of Law]], has argued that the court acted improperly by appointing a special prosecutor, claiming that, among other things, the "trial court had no lawful authority to hold the prosecutors in contempt for Brady violations..."<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Inquisition by Special Prosecutor in United States v. Senator Ted Stevens: of Brady, Contempt, and the Forensic Trifecta|volume=54|issue=1|journal=Criminal Law Bulletin|date=Winter 2015|pages=69–124|ssrn=2560956|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2560956|access-date=May 12, 2023|archive-date=April 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420072713/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2560956|url-status=live}}</ref>