For Sen. Stevens, last chance to convince jurors

By Matt Apuzzo and Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press

October 20, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — After two years under FBI scrutiny, a month on trial and three days on the witness stand, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is about out of time to convince jurors of his innocence.

A lot is riding on Tuesday's closing arguments: the reputation of the Senate's longest-serving Republican, the legacy of Alaska's political patriarch and perhaps the outcome of his close re-election fight.

Stevens, 84, is charged with lying on Senate financial documents for years to conceal $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from oil services contractor VECO Corp. Stevens has steadfastly maintained his innocence and asked for an unusually speedy trial, which he hopes will clear him before Election Day.

Neither Stevens nor the Justice Department has emerged from the trial unblemished. Stevens appeared cantankerous at times on the witness stand as he sought to explain one apparent freebie after another. Prosecutors, meanwhile, were repeatedly chastised for withholding evidence or otherwise manipulating the case against Stevens.

The heart of the case is a complicated home renovation project, in which Stevens' small A-frame house was jacked up on stilts. A new first floor was built, complete with a wine cellar and sauna, and two wraparound porches added.

Prosecutors say Stevens relied on VECO Corp. employees to do the construction, knowing he'd get lots of free work.

Stevens says he relied on his friend, VECO founder Bill Allen, to oversee the project. Stevens says Allen was under strict orders to relay every bill for the job. If Allen covered some of those bills himself, the senator says, he didn't know about it.

During closing arguments, both sides are expected to return to the themes of their case.

Defense attorneys can remind jurors of Stevens' storied career and solid reputation in the Senate. If Stevens wanted to accept free home renovations, they say, why would he and his wife have paid $160,000 for the project? Why would he send repeated requests for bills?

Prosecutors will probably tell jurors that Stevens got so much free stuff, he simply must have known about it. Those notes requesting invoices, the government says, were part of a ruse.

In Alaska, meanwhile, Democrat Mark Begich has sought to capitalize on Stevens' legal woes. Democrats are running a flurry of campaign ads highlighting the trial. One features excerpt from a secret FBI recording. Another features actors playing FBI agents listening in on Stevens' phone calls.