Judge Limits Stevens’ Character Witness List

10 Oct 2008 // A federal judge has ordered Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens ’ lawyers to pare back the number of character witnesses they plan to call to testify at the veteran Republican lawmaker’s corruption trial.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said Stevens will be able to call a total of five character witnesses, less than half of the 11 such witnesses Stevens’ lawyers were seeking to call to testify to Stevens’ “truthfulness and veracity.”

“You select the five or I’ll select the five,” the judge said.

Two former cabinet members, a Capitol police officer, an Episcopal priest, a World War II pilot, a former D.C. Council member and a former Stevens’ staffer are among the character witnesses defense lawyers would like to call.

Defense attorneys, who began presenting their side of the case Thursday have already called one of their character witnesses: Sen. Daniel K. Inouye , D-Hawaii. Another, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, is expected to testify Friday afternoon.

Sens. Orrin G. Hatch , R-Utah, and Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass., also are on a the list of 10 potential character witnesses that Stevens’ lawyers submitted late Thursday, although Stevens’ lawyers note that Kennedy - who is battling a malignant brain tumor - is unlikely to testify because of his health.

Hatch would testify “as to Senator Stevens’ reputation for truthfulness within the United States Senate and his personal opinion regarding Senator Stevens’ character for truthfulness,” according to the court filing.

Another prominent Democrat - Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont - was on an original list of possible witness but was not among the potential witnesses submitted Thursday.

Late Thursday, prosecutors also filed a motion to limit the number and scope of character witness, noting that the court rarely allows the defense to call more than three such witnesses.

“The government believes that some of these purported character witnesses will be called solely to cast defendant in a sympathetic light, provide specific instances of alleged good-deeds which defendant might have allegedly engaged in at some point in time, or to show that defendant is a defendant possessed the traits of personal integrity and dedication to public service,” prosecutors wrote.

Stevens, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican, is charged with failing to disclose more than $250,000 worth of gifts on the annual financial disclosure forms that all senators must fill out and personally sign.

Stevens’ lawyers expect that Powell will testify to Stevens’ “reputation for truthfulness within the federal intelligence and legislative communities as well as his personal opinion of Senator Stevens’ truthfulness.”