Kott Trial Day 3 - Jury seated, Trial Resumes Monday

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
Court Calendar for Friday, September 7, 2007

9:00 AM 3:07-CR-00056-01-JWS

Judge Sedwick Anchorage Courtroom 3
USA vs. PETER KOTT
TRIAL BY JURY - DAY 3

I didn't get to the courtroom til 11:15am today. By then there were twelve or thirteen people sitting in the jury seats - just two two men, one African-American, a few who might be Alaska Native or Hispanic or Asian, most white - and twenty five more sitting in the audience. They were selecting the alternates. The basic questions they were answering were about where they lived, jobs, hobbies, bumper stickers, have they written letters to the editor, kids, prior jury duty, education level.

When they were done, each side had two peremptory challenges left. They gave them to the clerk who then showed the opposing attorneys. My notes are confusing here. I think four names were read. Two people sitting in the jury box were excused and two who had just been interviewed as alternates. Of the later two, the older woman with the GED was excused and the truck driver with the Marine Corps stickers was excused. Then three or four more names were picked randomly to fill in the 12 jurors and 4 alternates. A lot of the jury pool had been eliminated before I got there. It appeared to me that woman who said yesterday that shea nd her husband were friends of Ben Stevens was gone.

Then the judge gave an overview to the jury. This is a criminal case brought by the government. The indictment is only a set of charges and does not indicate guily.

Government must prove its case byond a reasonable doubt. Not beyond all possible doubt. The jury must be convinced by the evidence or lack of evidence.

The government has the burden to prove that the defendant is guilty.

The defense has no obligation to prove innocence - they need not present any evidence if they so choose.

There will be opening statements - Monday. These are not evidence, but rather they will describe what evidence they will show and why it is relevant. The government will will direct examine the witnesses, the defense can cross examine, and possibly more.

After the government, the defense may present, but is under no obligation.

Then closing arguments. Again, this is not evidence. Since the government must prove its case, it goes first, then defense, and the government last.

The decision of the jury must be unanimous. You are the sole determinants of the facts. The law will be given by the court, you determine the facts. And only from the evidence given, not from other sources. Don't consider anything heard outside the courtroom. Avoid contact with the news media. If you want to read the sports section, have someone else go through the paper and pull out anything about the trial. The media are doing their job, but it isn't what they think, but what you think that matters. Don't do any other research, all must make their decisions based on the same evidence.

You can judge what the witnesses say based on their ability to see, hear, or know things they talk about, their memory, their manner, their interest in the outcome, whether they contradict themselves or are contradicted by others.

No remark I make should be interpreted as my opinion. If I admonish a lawyer, you should have no prejudice against the lawyer.

Don't worry about the sentence, only whether the defendant is guilty or not. My job is to deal with the sentence.

Don't discuss the case with anyone, even the other jurors, until you begin deliberations.

We'll run from 9am to 4:30pm, with 10-15 minute breaks in the morning and afternoon. We'll break for lunch as close to noon as we can. Jury should be back at 1:15 and we resume at 1:30.

Pay close attention. There is no written transcript. You must rely on your memories. You may take notes, but keep them to yourself until you're in the jury room. You'll leave your notes in the court when you go home. We'll provide paper and pens.

(I'm sure I left some minor details out, and I hope this fairly represents what the judge said.)

Q: I live in Kodiak, can I go home this weekend? A: Yes [My question - who pays for transportation and housing for jurors who have to travel to Anchorage?]
Q: How long will the trial take? A: At longest, til the end of the month. My estimate is two weeks or less.

At 11:50 am the jury was excused til Monday morning.

After the jury left, there was discussion among the attorneys and the judge.

The government is going to provide evidence that Dave Dittman conducted political polls for Kott that were paid for by Bill Allen and/or Rick Smith. The defense wants to present as evidence that Allen and Smith paid Dittman for polls about a number of other candidates they were interested in and this was a legitimate business interest of theirs. They did this as individuals and not as Veco. The government argued this was irrelevant. They are supposed to either resolve this or submit motions.

As best as I could tell, some of the tapes have been 'minimized' which from the discussion, I understood to mean, the recordings were turned off and there are missing portions. There was already a stipulation that FBI agents who did the recording would be available to the defense. But the defense wanted them to be there for six or seven sections so they could explain why the tapes were turned off, what rules they had for what to record or not record. It was suggested by the judge, I think, that the defense was free to call them as witnesses for the defense. Attorney Wendt said he did not want to call the FBI as witnesses. The judge said he couldn't tell the government whom to call as witnesses. They will file motions tonight and tomorrow so the judge can rule before the opening statements on Monday.

The court recessed around 12:20pm until Monday at 9am. After I asked Lisa Demer if the government had said whether they were going to call Bill Allen and Rick Smith of Veco as witnesses. She said, no, they have until 4:30 to file that.