Legal Ethics
Judge in Sen. Stevens’ Trial Accuses Lawyer of Making Secret Signals
Posted Oct 7, 2008, 10:33 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The judge in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens accused a lawyer for the government’s star witness of making secret signals to his client yesterday during cross-examination.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said lawyer Robert Bundy appeared to be sending signals from his seat in the courtroom gallery, report the Associated Press and McClatchy Newspapers. Bundy’s client is Bill Allen, the founder of VECO, who testified about home renovations he did for Stevens.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Sullivan said about the signals, according to the McClatchy account. "That's borderline obstruction of justice."
Both Sullivan and defense lawyers for Stevens said they saw the signals, but Bundy denied the accusation through his law partner, Creighton Magid. He said Bundy is "absolutely torn up by this." Sullivan first made the accusation Monday at the close of proceedings and returned to the issue today, McClatchy reports.
Sullivan refused to rule out sanctions but said he would seek more information. He acknowledged in response to Magid’s assertions that it’s possible Bundy “was shaking his head in disbelief at something else."