Stevens judge denies dismissal request

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A U.S. federal judge Monday refused a defense request to dismiss charges or grant a mistrial in the corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

In their emergency motion, defense attorneys told U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan that prosecutors withheld evidence favorable to their client, the longest-serving Senate Republican, The Hill reported.

Stevens has pleaded innocent to felony charges of failing to report more than $250,000 in improper gifts from Bill Allen, former chief executive of VECO Corp., on Senate disclosure forms from 1999 to 2006.

Defense attorneys claim federal prosecutors knew one of their witnesses, Rocky Williams, foreman of renovations on Stevens' home, contended the government overestimated his time spent at the senator's Alaska home, undermining the government's case.

Sullivan said he was "not inclined" to dismiss the case but would allow a new cross-examination of a former bookkeeper at VECO who testified last week Williams worked hundreds of hours on the site without billing the senator, the Washington publication said. The judge also hinted at deposing Williams and requesting his grand jury testimony to see whether additional evidence was being withheld.

Meanwhile federal attorneys in a motion filed Friday, sought to limit questions of Allen, Williams and another witness. Prosecutors asked that questioning be limited because to examine the strategy "will serve no purpose other than to impair the search for the truth," the Anchorage Daily News reported.