KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Weyhrauch trial delayed for up to 2 years, says attorney
Member Center:
by Bill McAllister
Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Former state House Speaker Pete Kott went on trial today, charged with bribery and other felonies. But his co-defendant was turned down a different legal path.
One public corruption trial was split into two today.
Ironically, former state Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch originally wanted to split his case off from Kott's, fearing so-called 'evidentiary spill-over' from what is perceived as a stronger case against Kott.
But today it was federal prosecutors who forced U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick to sever the cases.
Sedwick last week ruled that federal prosecutors could not pursue part of the corruption case against two former state lawmakers by claiming that they failed to disclose financial negotiations with executives of oilfield services company VECO Corp.
Former Reps. Kott and Weyhrauch, scheduled for trial today, are accused of selling their votes on oil and gas issues last year in exchange for cash or promises of future employment or contracts with VECO.
Sedwick said in prosecuting the case, the government could not support the charges with the accusation of non-disclosure of a conflict of interest, because no such disclosure requirement exists in state law.
But the U.S. Justice Department disagrees with that ruling, and wants the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review it - but only with regard to Weyhrauch.
"We have profound respect for Judge Sedwick. And he was really put in a position by the government today where he really had no choice but to sever the cases and proceed to trial against Kott," said Douglas Pope, who is representing Weyhrauch in the corruption trial. "But we are deeply, deeply concerned about the conduct of the government in this case. We think it's outrageous."
Pope says his client's trial will be delayed by at least a year and perhaps by two years.
He says it's because the government knew it would lose the case otherwise.
Pope says there is no evidence that Weyhrauch, a lawyer, agreed to vote at VECO's direction or to try to influence his colleagues in exchange for promises of future legal contracts from the company.
The government's theory is that maybe Weyhrauch didn't strike a deal, according to Pope, and he contends the government does not have any evidence of a deal.
"(Government prosecutors) said, 'Well, maybe they didn't make a deal, but they were sort of talking about a deal, and Weyhrauch had a duty under the House rules and the customs of the House to get up and disclose that on the floor of the House,'" Pope said. "No court anywhere in this country has ever held that."
So Kott proceeds to trial and Weyhrauch to legal limbo.
Federal prosecutors had no response to Pope's description of their conduct.
Pope says he'll appeal all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the "off-chance" that Weyhrauch loses on the issue in the 9th Circuit.
Other defendants in the ongoing public corruption probe, as well as members of the community, have insinuated that the FBI has been intimidating, heavy-handed and even trampled Constitutional rights in pursuit of its case.
Pope claims the same has happened to his client, saying the federal government had been contacting potential character witnesses for Weyhrauch and seemingly trying to talk them out of testifying for the defense.
Former legislator Vic Kohring says he was denied his constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure and against self-incrimination when he was interrogated by the FBI last year.
Contact Bill McAllister at bmcallister@ktuu.com
