Pete Kott Trial - 8:30 am Start Monday for Closing Arguments

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
Court Calendar for Monday, September 24, 2007
Current as of 09/21/2007 at 5:30 PM

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8:30 AM	3:07-CR-00056-01-JWS	Judge Sedwick	Anchorage Courtroom 3
USA vs. PETER KOTT TRIAL BY JURY - DAY 14

Checking the court calendar for tomorrow, I noticed that the trial starts a half hour earlier than normal. The closing arguments are scheduled. Friday the defense said it wanted however much time the government got and the government wanted 90 minutes. So one possibility is that the judge moved it up earlier so they could have a break between the arguments and still get out by noon.

I think the government has a lot on its side. The tapes are pretty damning and the defendant has said he would lie to his friends, and his chief of staff said he was a mean drunk.

If I were the defense attorney I'd try to make the point that yes, there were gifts, and yes Kott did things as a legislator to support their interests in the legislature. But Kott and Allen were good friends, who because of many common experiences and interests really hit it off. And all legislators are supported by people of like political interests and they push those interests in the legislature. There is no specific action that is tied to a specific gift. The wire-fraud charge, based on the phone call from DC regarding Marathan Oil is a mighty slim thread, and this would be the charge, if any, most likely to fail.

That's the only possible hole I can see Kott getting through if the defense can pull it off and the jury buys it. As I recall from the Anderson case, the agreement need not be as explicit as "I'll give you this $7,993 for Hardwood Flooring and you'll get me four votes for 20/20." I think there's enough on the tapes with Kott telling Allen he'll get it done, etc. that the government should be able to make the connection.

This jury is older than the Anderson jury and there are ten women on it. I can't imagine Kott's profanity, lascivious talk of the women in Florida and Barbados in those phone calls, or his living with his girlfriend while he's still married has gotten much sympathy for him from the jury. The defense got the explanation about the wife - that she's not cooperating in the divorce - from the girlfriend, not from the son. That surely isn't the most objective witness for that information. But you never know who gets on the jury. Well have to hear the closing arguments and then wait.

If the connection between the gifts and the legislation is still elusive, the government can quote Don Corleone: someday imported by AKRaven

Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as gift on my daughter's wedding day.