Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 120
02/27/2015 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR15 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 79 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 15 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
February 27, 2015
1:04 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Wes Keller, Vice Chair
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Charisse Millett
Representative Max Gruenberg
Representative Matt Claman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Chair
Representative Neal Foster
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15
Denouncing the decision to reverse the suspensions of the
federal prosecutors who intentionally withheld evidence of
innocence from the defense of Senator Ted Stevens; and honoring
the service of Senator Ted Stevens.
- MOVED CSHJR 15(JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HJR 15
SHORT TITLE: HONOR TED STEVENS; DISCIPLINE PROSECUTORS
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST
02/13/15 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/13/15 (H) JUD
02/27/15 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE BOB HERRON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HJR 15 on behalf of the House
Rules Committee and answered questions.
TIM MCKEEVER
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of United States
Senator Ted Stevens and HJR 15.
ACTION NARRATIVE:
1:04:25 PM
VICE CHAIR WES KELLER called the House Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:04 p.m. Representatives
Millett, Gruenberg, Lynn, and Keller were present at the call to
order. Representative Claman arrived as the meeting was in
progress.
HJR 15-HONOR TED STEVENS; DISCIPLINE PROSECUTORS
1:04:34 PM
VICE CHAIR KELLER announced that the only order of business
would be HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15, Denouncing the decision
to reverse the suspensions of the federal prosecutors who
intentionally withheld evidence of innocence from the defense of
Senator Ted Stevens; and honoring the service of Senator Ted
Stevens.
1:04:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE BOB HERRON, Alaska State Legislature, paraphrased
the following sponsor statement [original punctuation provided]:
"Denouncing the decision to reverse the suspensions of
the federal prosecutors who knowingly withheld
evidence of innocence from the defense of Senator Ted
Stevens; and honoring the service of Senator Ted
Stevens."
Sponsor Statement
Senator Stevens contributions to the state are
obviously too long to list, but included helping to
craft key federal legislation that has immensely
benefited Alaska, such as the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
Authorization Act, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act. On July 29, 2008,
Alaskan Senator Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr.,
was wrongfully indicted for allegedly failing to
disclose the value of renovations to his cabin. After
trial, Attorney General of the United States, Eric
Holder, asked that the verdict be set aside when it
was discovered that federal prosecutors unlawfully
withheld exonerating evidence from the defense. Judge
Sullivan subsequently appointed a special counsel to
investigate the prosecutors. On May 23, 2012, United
States Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott N.
Schools issued a final decision approving the
disciplinary action proposed by Kevin Ohlson, chief of
the Professional Misconduct Review unit, that federal
prosecutor Joseph Bottini be suspended for 45 days and
federal prosecutor. James Goeke be suspended for 15
days. On January 2, 2015 the United States Merit
Systems Protection Board upheld a 2013 ruling by an
administrative judge finding that the United States
Department of Justice violated its own rules when it
suspended prosecutors Joseph Bottini and James Goeke.
HJR 15 Resolves that the Alaska State Legislature:
• Supports the full and fair exoneration of Senator
Ted Stevens;
• Denounces the decision to reverse the suspensions of
the federal prosecutors who intentionally withhold
evidence from the defense of Senator Stevens;
• Requests the Alaska Bar Association determine
whether federal prosecutors in the Stevens case
violated the Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct;
• Honors the distinguished leadership of Senator
Stevens to the State of Alaska on many issues that the
state still faces today; and
• Further honors the importance of Senator Stevens'
service and legacy as a vital part of the history of
the State of Alaska.
1:09:06 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON continued that is seems ironic that two
wrongs were allowed in the case of Senator Stevens and opined
that within the purview of the Department of Justice two wrongs
equal one right against the powerful United States Senator Ted
Stevens. He advised that what happened to "Uncle Ted" ... if
you become a target of the Department of Justice for whatever
reason the same thing can happen to anyone.
1:10:57 PM
VICE CHAIR KELLER advised that the committee had just received
an Omnibus Amendment to HJR 15 from Representative Gruenberg.
The committee took a brief at-ease.
1:11:57 PM
VICE CHAIR KELLER opened public testimony.
1:12:04 PM
TIM MCKEEVER, stated he worked with Senator Stevens for many
years and opined that HJR 15 should be adopted by the
legislature. He further opined that it is warranted for the
legislature to acknowledge his [many years of service] and to
address the misconduct of the prosecutors. The principle goal
of a prosecutor is to do justice and not necessarily to convict
people regardless of the evidence, and to make sure evidence is
presented so it can be properly evaluated and considered. He
said the record shows that the prosecutors involved in this case
disregarded that obligation, presented evidence they knew to be
false, and failed to disclose exculpatory evidence showing that
the Senator had not performed the conduct they described. He
expressed it is unfortunate that although the Department of
Justice initially determined that the prosecutors deserved "what
is probably a very mild sanction" for their misconduct. The
Department of Justice then mishandled the investigation review
process which ultimately lead to the decision by the United
States Merit Systems Protection Board that although the
prosecutors had acted improperly, the punishment that the
Department of Justice had proposed was inadequate or improper.
He urged the legislature to enact HJR 15 to recognize and honor
Senator Stevens.
VICE CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony after ascertaining no
one further wished to testify.
1:14:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Conceptual Amendment 1,
which read [original punctuation provided]:
Page 1, line 7, before "Senator" insert "Republican"
and delete his party"
Page 1, line 10 delete "immensely" and insert
"greatly" and delete "certainly"
Query, page 1, lines 13-14, should "pro tempore" and
"pro tempore emeritus" be capitalized
Page 2, lines 5-6, before "United States" insert "the"
and after "guilty" insert "District Court Judge Emmet
G. Sullivan" and before "on July" insert "for the
District of Columbia"
Page 2, lines 12, after "Judge", delete "Emmet G."
Page 2, line 14, after "indictment" delete ";" and
insert ","
Page 3, line 5, after "Association" insert" and any
other appropriate bar associations"
Page 3, line 6, after "Conduct" insert "and any other
applicable codes of professional conduct"
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN objected for purposes of discussion.
1:15:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG advised that the conceptual amendment
is mainly grammatical.
1:16:53 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG moved to adopt Amendment 1 to
Conceptual Amendment 1, which read [original punctuation
provided]:
Page 2 line 11 after "critical" delete ","
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG requested unanimous consent that
Amendment 1 to Conceptual Amendment 1 be adopted.
VICE CHAIR KELLER said seeing no objection, Amendment 1 to
Conceptual Amendment 1 is adopted.
1:18:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON remarked that Conceptual Amendment 1 is
"outstanding" and advised that Representative Gruenberg, Senator
McGuire, and himself, previously worked for "Senator Ted."
1:19:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN referred to adding "Republican" rather than
"his party" and remarked this is about a person more than a
party. He questioned whether this [sentence] makes it more
partisan than it should be and suggested taking any partisan
reference out of HJR 15.
1:20:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG opined that Senator Stevens was proud
of his party and it was appropriate to give the party a little
credit. Representative Gruenberg offered to withdraw that
portion of the amendment.
1:20:42 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LYNN said he is comfortable either way and wanted
to lay the idea on the table for comments. He opined he does
not want it to be partisan because Senator Stevens would have
been a good senator for either party.
1:21:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER said he likes the amendment because
Senator Stevens valued the party and the platform of the party.
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT said she agrees with Representative
Gruenberg on the republican [amendment].
REPRESENTATIVE CLAMAN withdrew his objection.
1:22:19 PM
VICE CHAIR KELLER stated that seeing no further objection,
Conceptual Amendment 1 is adopted.
VICE CHAIR KELLER put HJR 15 before the committee for
discussion.
1:22:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG advised that he and Representative
Herron have accumulated documents for the committee's review.
He pointed out that there have been a number of exonerations ...
"I have an article that says exonerations hit record high in
2014." He explained that those [calculations] are across the
country, and another [article] reads "hundreds of department ...
justice department attorneys violated professional rules, laws
or ethical standards", which is from the POGO [Project on
Government Oversight] report. He offered that Texas Governor
Rick Perry signed a law that aims to avoid wrongful convictions
by preventing prosecutors from suppressing evidence and he would
be researching this issue.
1:24:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT moved to report HJR 15, Version 29-
LS0410\F, as amended, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being
no objection, CSHJR 15(JUD), moved from committee.
1:25:10 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HJR15 - vers F.PDF |
HJUD 2/27/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 15 |
| HJR15 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HJUD 2/27/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 15 |