Pete Kott Trial - The Underlying Stories Part 2

I started this thread in an earlier post, where I pondered the underlying stories of the trial. I identified just three different sources of underlying stories.

Story 1: How the attorneys tell their stories.
Story 2: How the press tell their stories.
Story 3: The stories of our culture, indeed of humanity, that the trial reveals.

Of course there are hundreds of other stories - each of the jurors will find a number of stories in the proceedings. And the Clerk and others who have to get the court room ready, post the calendar and all the items in the docket, each have very different stories of the trial than I'm identifying. But I can only speculate on a couple here.

I started sketching out the attorneys' stories in the earlier post

I'm still thinking about the press stories. Are bloggers members of the press? Well, the security guards allowed my computer into the courtroom with the other press computers yesterday. But I'll save these stories for a later post.

Right now I'd like to muse about the cultural stories that arise in this trial.

First, I would note that the main character in the trial so far has been Bill Allen. Pete Kott has said very little since the first day when the jury pool assembled and Kott stood up with the attorneys and introduced himself as "Pete Kott, the defendant." Since then he's been a quiet shadow sitting between his attorneys. Witness Rick Smith has a supporting role to Bill Allen. So let me try on this story as an interpretation of some of what is happening here in court.

We have a clash of two different cultures - a pre-modern, tribal world and a modern, legal world. In Bill Allen's world, as I tease it out of his words and behaviors, power and family are the main values. Loyalty is a second, but lower value. The law, the government, the legislature in particular are seen as either obstacles to be overcome or tools to get what you want. Allen is clearly an intelligent man. Coming from a poor family, as he told the story, where he and his family survived as 'pickers' of fruit and vegetables in Oregon, he often missed school to pick. He finally dropped out at 15 to earn money as an assistant welder. He has used his wits, his ability to work hard, and his ability to size up people, to create a business that earned between $750 million and $1 billion last year, according to his testimony.

In the world he described, good and bad referred to how something would affect his business. Good legislation was legislation that would benefit - directly or indirectly - Veco's prospects. Good people were those who supported Allen and Veco. Money was a sign of power. And with money, this high school drop-out could show his power over the better educated. He could buy legislators. He paid Tom Anderson to be a consultant who did, apparently, very little for his monthly check. He paid for political polls for state legislative candidates. He handed out checks to legislators. They had audiences with Allen in the Baranof Hotel's Suite 604. But symbolically, he could really show his power by building the addition to Ted Stevens' house and by hiring Ted Stevens' son for $4000 a month to do "not a lot." The most senior Republican U.S. Senator was beholden to him. Surely, that's a sign of power. He even bought a newspaper - The Anchorage Times. So all these educated people worked for him - a high school drop out who'd picked fruit as a child.

Earlier in the trial, I'd thought perhaps loyalty was the main virtue in this world - the loyalty of the Pete Kotts. The loyalty of his Veco employees. He said he trusted Kott as a friend who would do whatever it took to support him. He told the court he'd put aside $10 million when Veco was sold, to support the loyal employees who'd worked for the company and made it what it was - not the executives, but the workers.

But then I looked at the situation before me. Allen was the government's witness against his most loyal servant, Pete Kott. We've watched this tribal culture on HBO - in the Sopranos and in Rome. We see it in the car bombs of Baghdad. We even see it in the White House where the rule of law is trumped by the raw use of power, and the redacting of significant parts of the Constitution. If the rule of law has any meaning in this culture, it is might makes right. And when the FBI confronted Allen with hundreds of hours of secretly recorded audio and video tapes, he saw that their army of investigators and attorneys had more juice than Veco. In this conflict of power, the FBI had him by the balls, a graphic image that would say it all in Allen's world And to protect the ultimate core of a tribal culture, his family, he abandoned Kott and the others, to keep his family out of prison.

This is not an immoral man. Rather this is a man who lives by a different code of right and wrong from the one that now judges him. Family and power come first. Loyalty to underlings comes next. He told the court he didn't expect anything from the Government for his testimony. He recognized their power, and in their place he would not treat his vanquished with 'fairness'. But he also had his own pride - in the powerful company he built by his own hands and wit, in his own hard work - and as he told Kott's attorney, "I won't beg" the government to lower his sentence. He'll take what comes as a man. He's protected his family, whatever else happens, happens.

This man who ruled by the pre-modern values of power and personal loyalty is put on trial by the rules of a modern state, where rationality, not personality count. Where merit, not loyalty and personal connections, is the standard. (A merit generally prefers college degrees to dirty fingernails.) His behaviors are judged, not by power, but by laws. The kind of laws he paid legislators to write in his favor and that he ignored when they were in the way.

I think it is important to recognize the good qualities in Allen. This is a man who, it would appear, was raised in a culture where poverty was bad and thus money was good. No one was there to help him, he had to help himself. The modern, civilized world failed him. It forced him to work as a child. The school system didn't work for him. The idea of rule of law wasn't, apparently, one he learned from his family and he wasn't in school enough to get it there. With what he had, he build a large corporation which gave him the power to take care of his family. He played well by the rules of tribal culture.

And lest those of us who believe in the rule of law get too smug, tribal instincts are alive and well under the veneer of civilization we wear. We see it flare up in divorce courts, at football stadiums an boxing matches, among hunters and fishers. It's part of our humanity. We're still learning how to balance the tension between protecting our own and helping others, between the freedom of the individual and the good of the larger community.

Mushroom Pictures

Biking home from the trial yesterday, I took the longer way home around Goose Lake. We've had a lot of rain recently and the mushrooms were out. I can't find my mushroom field guide, so I'm going to post without trying to figure out what they are. Anyone who knows, please leave a comment.

Here's a mushroom eye view of the woods.

There were a lot of these brown mushrooms with a cream trim

And these little tiny ones popping up through the moss.

And these were somewhat bigger. You can see the relative size by looking at the moss.

This russet colored one from the top and then from the side.

These scattered clusters of mushrooms are what first caught my eye.

Pete Kott Trial - The Underlying Stories

Having my laptop in court yesterday, meant I could take almost (emphasis on almost) verbatim notes. But six hours of lawyers pulling words out of witnesses mouths is pretty tedious. So how does one tell this story? Or maybe more accurately, which stories should one tell?

Story 1: How the attorneys tell their stories.

The main story is the story of the defendant. The government is trying to show the jury the story of how Pete Kott got payments for his work as a legislator. From the approximately 9500 monitored phone calls six months of video (according to Agent Dunphy) they have culled less than 25 for the jurors to hear the words of Pete Kott, Bill Allen, and Rick Smith (mainly) talk about Kott "doing whatever it takes" to get the Petroleum Profits Tax bill passed at the 20/20 (20% tax and 20% credits for investing) level and to push the gas pipeline. Both of these would ensure continued business for Allen's oil service supply company, Veco. In exchange we hear that Kott received political polls paid for by Veco. Kott gets an extra $7,000 (over the $12,000 fee) for refinishing the hardwood floors in Allen's house. And he gets the promise of a good job when he leaves the legislature.

All this has to be woven together from the bits and pieces of audio and video tape, invoices, checks, phone records, etc.

Monday, Kott's attorneys will begin in earnest to take the same facts and show how they mean something totally different. They've given hints in the cross-examination. Kott has simply been doing his job to represent his constituents by promoting the economy of Alaska by strongly promoting legislation that he believes will be a great benefit to all Alaskans. Yes, he's good friends with the Veco executives. All candidates work to support their political allies' causes and get campaign donations because they have the same political beliefs. But when Kott disagrees on issues with Veco, he votes his own way.

Then there are the stories the attorneys tell when the jury is out of the courtroom. These are the stories they use to convince the judge to grant them the use of some evidence or to prevent the opposing attorney from using some tactic. These stories that help build the professional biographies of the attorneys and the judges.

Story 2: How the press tell their stories.

Story 3: The stories of our culture, indeed of humanity, that the trial reveals.

I'll work on Stories 2 and 3 in later posts.

Pete Kott Trial Day 8 - Rest of the Morning

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
Court Calendar for Friday, September 14, 2007
Current as of 09/14/2007 at 12:00 PM


9:00 AM 3:07-CR-00056-01-JWS Judge Sedwick Anchorage Courtroom 3
USA vs. PETER KOTT
TRIAL BY JURY - DAY 8



The rest of the morning was not quite as exciting as the Bill Allen's testimony. Summary:

1. Discussion among attorneys and judge whether the Government could ask Rick Smith what Pete Kott understood things to mean. Criteria the judge cited from other cases were
a. has to be helpful to the jury.
b. Should not allow to interpret clear statements as opposed to statements given in code.
2. Witness Karla Schofield - deputy director of Legislative Affairs testifying about a travel reimbursement Kott turned in about travel to DC for an Energy Council meeting in March 2006 (I think, could have been 2005). It wasn't totally clear where this was leading, though the discussion before was about his trip to DC to meet with Marathon Oil people on behave of Veco. So if that was the same trip, maybe that is relevance. I still want to know who paid for his trip to the Don Young Pig Roast. I guess if the state had paid for that they would have brought it up.
3. Witness Richard L. Smith, VP for Veco. Nothing popped out at me during the testimony, though it was basically pushing toward whether Veco promised Kott a job in return for doing Veco's work in getting the PPT and gas pipeline through the legislature.

Below are my notes as I took in the courtroom. It was easier to keep up when Allen was testifying because there were long pauses and he talked slowly. But the rest of the morning people responded much more quickly. I tried to keep the actual language as much as possible, but sometimes I had to skip along, shorten, etc. just to keep up with what was going on. Sometimes I had several A(nswer)s without any Q(uestion)s, which indicates there were questions and I tried to incorporate the questions into the answers. So this is pretty rough, but will give a reasonable idea of what when on in the court this morning, for anyone who wants more details.




10:40am

Simonian (Kott Attorney): It appears Rick Smith is going to testify. Pivotal is conversation where Pete Kott says “We need to get Marathon Oil”.
Judge: Let me rule first, then I’ll hear it. Haven’t had time for written ruling. But looked at cases. Concern will ask Smith to give his interpretation of tapes. Decision: It appears there’s no dispute. Correct: Smith can testify to what he heard or saw. Can testify what actions he took. Cannot testify what other understood. Leaves: Can he testify what he understood them to mean? Citing cases. Some cases say yes, others say no. Has to be rationally based on perception of witness - not expert. Also has to be helpful to the jury. Should not allow to interpret clear statements as opposed to statements given in code.

I conclude must be ruled on 701 and this can’t be done in a vacuum and I’ll hear you both out and give a ruling. Marsh shared the one and said there were others Exhibit 15, March 10 phone RS-PK - where Kott calls from DC to ask for Thurwacker’s number. That’s the basis of the wire fraud count, and the only basis, so critical. On page 3,
PK “we gotta take care of Marathon in this deal..
J: Let me hear from Mr. Marsh what he plans to ask what Mr. Smith understood.
M: Talking about PPT bill.
J: this is pretty obvious
M: But not obvious to juries. Not whether it was relevant to Veco.
J: Just ask him if Veco had a position regarding Marathon.
M: I agree but, Mr. Kott says, this is just a phone call. Smith’s interpretation different.
J: It’s clear, jury can figure it out. Mr. Smith doesn’t need to put words into Kott’s mouth. You can get at it different, but leaves jury to figure it out. That’s m ruling on that particular aspect.

10:53am Ready for jury.

Marsh: Govt calls
Swearing in Witness
Name: Karla Jayne Schofield - Juneau
Marsh: Tell us about yourself.
A: Grew up in Ketchikan? College outside. deputy director for Legislative Affairs Agency. Worked for State for 30 years. Responsible for bill drafting, teleconferencing, info offices around the state, etc.
Financial duties, oversee the office
Q: relates to travel?
A: I guess, process all the per diem, pay travel submitted by legislators.
Q: Ways sitting members of legislators can have travel paid for by state.
A: Yes, officers have money . Presiding officer or dept chairs and can approve own travel if it’s small amount. Leg Budget and audit and Leg finance committees, etc.
Q: Ex. 112. Do you recognize that document?
Q: What is it?
A: Travel to Washington DC March
Q: You indicated reimbursement to energy council? You know what that is?
A: Several leg go to, this is an annual meeting held in DC
Q: Does document contain about airline trip?
A: Shows between airfare and taxis we reimbursed $1,491 for that portion.
Q: Times he came and went?
A: Has itinerary?
Q: Times plane left?
A: March 9 Alaska Airlines arrived, departed March 11.
Q: Hotel records?
A: For DC and sEattle.
Q: For night or Mach 10 hotel in DC?
A: Yes
A: form shows their itinerary, sometimes asking for travel advance,
Q: form submitted to get money back when they travel. What’s that number?
A: total reimbursement
Q: How approved?
A: Kott chair of legislative council, can approve on travel.

Wendt:
Q: Trip for annual energy council meeting, correct?
A: Yes, several of our legislators attended.
Q: every year?
A: yes
Q: This 2006? No different from others, several others went as well.
A: yes
Q: In paper work, in order?
A: yes appeared to be
Q: complete?
A: yes
Q: also process per diem
A: yes
Q: get per diem in Juneau?
A get daily per diem and if they travel eligible for lodging portion
Q: Kott provide with any phone bills?
A: No he did not?
Q: Legislators allowed to make personal phone calls if they pay for it?
A: Yes.

Witness Excused.

Next Witness Rick Smith. 11:06am - waiting for him to arrive
11:08 Oath
Name: Richard L Smith
Please spell it:
A: Can’t hear it
Judge: Will give you hearing assistance.
Can you hear me?
Smith, 2013 Forrest Park Drive, Anchorage

Marsh: Morning, Can you tell us about where your were born, grew up.
A: Massachusetts, first 16 years lived across the US, father in Air Force
Came to Alaska at 16 in 1961
Education: West high school, several colleges over next few years, no degree.
Q: Employment history.
A: Beside early small jobs. 1964. Worked for AA Railroad on the earthquake. Gandy Master. Labor on railroad, putting ties in, from Anchorage to Whittier, mostly in Portage area.
Lager in 60’s Union Oil company as truck driver in California, Marketing for company. Early 70’s bicycle shop, store manager till late 70s. The distribut?? firm for oil company, eventually owned that. 1989 to Veco on oil spill, logistics management and supply.
Asst. Mangers for log. and supply on Valdez Oil Spill, in office as sales coordinator, salesman, later management sales and marketing. Then promoted to VP govt. affairs.
Q: STill work for Veco?
A: Resigned this spring
Q: point in time when met Bill Allen?
A: Yes, fall of 89
Q: relationship with BA change?
A: Early mid 90s, more time with BA, sales, with Anchorage Times, negotiating the sale of times to ADN.
Q: Started govt relations?
A: probably mid 90s. Bill asked me to help him with those areas, support people who believed in same causes we did.
Q: did your relationship with BA change again in that job?
A: oh yeah, we became best of friends in last 10-12 years, both socially and business.
Q: What did in GR?
A: Helping campaign strategies and fundraising for candidates. Mostly federal and state, little local.
Q: During this time, matters that came before state legs important? why?
A: Yes, Legislation that would affect oil and gas and mining industry, most natural resource extraction industry, we paid attention.
Q: Come to meet members of leg.?
A: yes, lots of them
Q: recall meeting PK?
A: yes, don’t recall the date?
Q: continuing relationship when he became member of legislature?
A yes
Q: Ask about BA? Relationship 92-present day? A: Yes Q: Motorcycle wreck
A: 2001
Q: Any changes after that?
A: Hit his head on pavement without helmet. Caused disconnect between though process and ability to verbalize that. Say, would say meat for fish, sometimes he would catch it. Only major change.
Q: Still today?
A: Yes.
Q: Aware of effort to build Gas pipeline and effect on veco?
A: We were very much for that, what our company does and did, were really for it parties agreed this the right time.
Q Wen BA interested?
A: Early 2000s, economics seemed to come together, raising gas prices, need for gas to re-inject in North slope going done. Perfect storm, first time in history of Alaska, all the entities, govt. admin, legislature, producers starting to see they could get together and do something to cause pipeline to be built.
A: around 2001-2002
Q: What steps Veco take?
A: decided to get proactive, now might be the time to introduce legislation that would get the project moving forward, bring parties together to discuss. Created piece of legislation that would resurrect old legislation to allow natural gas pipeline to be started.
Bill: Stranded Gas Act. We went to PK asked him if he could support a bill of this nature and move it along, he said yes. HB 519
Q: 2005-6 Veco still pushing?
A: yes
Q: One or more than one?
A: 2005 or so, numerous talks, admin entertained, Murkowski entertaining proposals to build a natural gas pipeline, other entities, North Slope producers, three majors, talking with admin, trying to make pipeline go forward.
Q: who were the three?
A: Exxon, Conoco, BP
A: Fall 05 apparent that Gov M. working to have something to deliver to 06 legislature
A: Hopeful it would make it in 05, but didn’t.
Q: Become aware of PPT sometime?
A: Yes, sometime during that 05 06 course of events, negotiations focused on admin and three producers. 3 concerned with fiscal certainty and some definition in legislation that would provide for tax structure on oil and gas that would give them a long term look on what costs would be on this project. When hit legislature when gov. introduced it called PPT
A: Working economics of massive project. Their contention, without a stable tax structure, they couldn’t work out costs over long term.
Q: What relationship did that legislation have to Nat. Gas Pipeline?
A: Put forward, without PPT, there would be no project agreed upon for NGP.
Q: You understood PPT nec before GP?
A: Very definitely.
Q: What steps did you take to push PPT?
A: Once we realized producers wanted that in place before NGP, we supported that position. Was Governors and Producers position.
Q: How PPT structured? How change the rtes?
A: General idea, I can’t explain details. Establish tax rate on oil and a credit rate on new development and capital investment on North Slope. Tax credit rate to promote more development for enhanced recovery on NSlope?
Q: Gov and producers agree on specific numbers?
A: As I understand it, last minute they agreed on 20%tax and 20%credit?
A: Yes we supported that, because producers were our clients. We felt it was a major increase over previous tax. Surprised they agreed.
Q: What do you mean, your clients?
A: We work for them on N. Slope?
Q: What does Veco do for them?
A: maintenance, handle equip, new construction, build modules, ship and install them, engineering design work...
Q: If pipeline build and PPT passed, more work for Veco?
A: Yes, even if not direct contract work, expand work to be done, very hopeful to get work?
Q: Contact with legislators to promote NGP? PPT?
A: Yes we did, push 20/20?
Q: Think need to push legislature to get 20/20 passed?
A: Yes
Q: Any House member that planned to rely on to get it thru?
A: Very definitely. Used Pete in a lot of those ways, he was very significant. Carried our water whenever we needed him.
Object to leading.
Allow now, but be careful.
Q: Mr. S: tell us more about how by 2005 and spring 2006 your relationship with kott.
A: Good friends, were for many years, still was. spent a lot of time with him in Anchorage, Juneau, on the phone.
Q: What things talked about?
A: Person things, and what was happening in L., developing NGP bill, politics of the state to make gas pipeline happen.
Q Go to Juneau fair amount?
A: To visit with legislators, our lobbyists, other industry lobbyists, other folks had same interest in developing pipeline
A: Stayed in Baranof Hotel, Yes, had room we kept on monthly basis. Room 604.
A: Yes we had meetings and gatherings in 604.
Yes (kott had been in 604 prior to 2005
Q: 2006 session, anyone in state senate you relied on to push 20/20?
A: Ben Stevens and John Cowdery.
Q: 9/05 - 8/06 were you aware of wiretap on your cell phone?
A: No
Q: Jan - Aug 2006 know FBI had audio and video bug in 604?
A: No
Q: Phone call you had with Kott Sept 26, 2005, recall?
A: Can’t pin the date down, had a little look at it I could probably tell.
transcript on overhead
Wendt: Object to transcript being displayed, shown to witness to refresh his memory.
Judge: ok
Transcript down.
Q: remember discussing prospect of job with PK?
A: Yes
Q: did PK ask you for a job? A You got it.
Q: prior to 2006 how you involved with job for PK?
A: We’d talked for several years, both BA and myself, and Bill had made a commitment after PK’s tenure quit or wasn't’ reelected, we’d have work for him.
Could have been with Veco, or ...elsewhere
He reminded me he needed a job, his job to get pipeline through
Q: recall asking PK what are you going to do in this conversation?
pause. yeah. I do remember that?
Q: Chris Knaus?
A: Worked for Murkowski admin, prior on PK staff
Q: After talking about Kott’s job, why start talking about Chris Knauss.
A: Pete repeated he wanted to be a lobbyist, talked about Chris being a lobbyist. He made light of Chris abilities, I said he was good. If Pete jealous, Chris already employed and he (Kott) was on the outside of Veco at that point.
Q: That time period ever hear PK reference Barbados
A: Oh yes, standing joke.
Q: Did Veco have project in B?
A: Yes, Fuel handling and storage systems. Fairly significant for Barbados. A year in negotiations to build a new prison for Barbados. Bill and myself had talked to Pete about that, an ongoing potential project.
Q: Ever refer to wanting work in Barbados. Think he was serious?
A: No, we couldn’t even fill that kind of position?
Q: Why do you think he brought that up?
Objections
Sustained
Q: Every hear PK reference Barbados in relationship to legislation?
A: I don’t recall.
Pause
Jury watching intently
Q: Ask about Gabrielle LeDoux
A: State rep from Kodiak
Q: 2005 concerned she might not support position?
A: yes
Q: conversations with Kott to get her on board
A: many times, felt PK had best relationship in legislature with Rep LeDoux, felt he could get it done.
Q: Felt you needed her support?
A: Not sure.
A: Yes he did (talk to her to get her online)
Q: As 2006 leg session started did you come to learn PPT going to be introduced? When
A: yes, late January.
A: at last minute producers agreed, we wanted to get it passed
A: very concerned, when go in with your best offer to 60 people let them put their fingerprints on it, very hard to hold it, Very concerned.
Q: 3/4/06 [11:52am] Come back soon Feb. 2006, conversations with PK about PPT?
A: Yes. A: how we would hold 20/20 provision together in legislature
A; Yes [asked Kott to do things]
About to start different subject, should we recess?
Yes.

Kott Trial Day 8 - Ben Stevens paid $200K for "Not a lot"

In addition to telling the court he paid for contractors who worked on Ted Stevens' Girdwood house for a couple of months, ex-CEO of Veco said he paid Ben Stevens for "Not a Lot" under cross examination. Here are my rough notes from the court room which is now on break. I'm going back in now.

Q: We’ve already talked about payments to Ben Stevens - as much as $200,000?
A: Can’t count time before he was in the senate. How long was he in the Senate?
Q: Do you know?
A: .....4 years.
Q: During that time did you pay him $200,000?\
A: $4000 a month.: Some questions about Ben Stevens, what did he do for Veco?
A: Not a lot. But I did talk to him about a marina in Sakhalin Island. Ben really good about ships. He was gonna go over with me. About the time, the valley trash stuff happened and he was battling that. And when he was done, I couldn’t go. I did do a little bit with him about the marian.
Q: Is it fair to say most of what he did was work on the pipeline.
A: Yes, I talked a lot to him about that. He studied PPT a lot. People would ask him about it. Cause Ben, he studied and a lot of those guys , a lot of your legislators, really didn’t study PPT and the gas pipeline, but he did.

Kott Trial Day 8- Veco Paid for Stevens Girdwood House Contractors

In this morning's testimony, former Veco CEO testified that he paid for Veco employees to work on Stevens Girdwood house for about a couple of months.

I had my laptop in the court today and here is my rough transcript of that exchange:

Q: One allegation, you helped Sen. Ted Stevens remodel his Girdwood house. You and Veco paid a number of bills for remodeling that house. Isn’t that correct?
A: You know, if you say material. I gave Ted some old furniture, but I don’t think a lot of material, some labor.
Q: So you paid some labor bills for Stevens house.
A: Yes.
Q: For contractors working on the house?
A: For Veco Employees?
Q: How many involved?
A: I don’t know, I didn’t see it ...I had to run Veco. Probably 1-4?
Q: For how long? Weeks or Months?
A: Probably a couple of months?
Q: In addition to supplying Veco employees working, did you supply any other assistance?
A: I told you about old furniture. That’s all I can, you know, remember. Uh...I hadn’t, I went by maybe a month or two, to see what they were doing. Most I was gone.
Q: You would go by every month or two to check?
A: yes.
Q: How long to complete from beginning to end? 6 months, a year?
A: I don’t know. Probably, maybe as much as six months.
Q: We’ve already talked about payments to Ben Stevens - as much as $200,000?
A: Can’t count time before he was in the senate. How long was he in the Senate?
Q: Do you know?
A: .....4 years.
Q: During that time did you pay him $200,000?\
A: $4000 a month.

Peter Kott Trial - On at 9am

According to Judge Sedwick's case manager, Robin Carter, the Kott case is on at 9am. She also said the computer system had crashed at 2am and they were still working on getting them back up.

Pete Kott Trial - Gone Missing?

A quick check of the Court Schedule for Friday, September 14, 2007 doesn't show USA v Peter Kott. Is this an oversight or did something happen? I missed court today, but news coverage all said there'd be more today. Nor is USA v. Peter Kott scheduled Monday as of 09/14/2007 at 1:00 AM.

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska
Court Calendar for Friday, September 14, 2007
Current as of 09/14/2007 at 0:30 AM

---

8:30 AM	3:07-CR-00068-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. JOSEPH LEOPOLDO-PIMENTEL AKA STATUS CONFERENCE
8:30 AM	3:99-CR-00147-04-JWS	Judge Sedwick	Anchorage Courtroom 3
USA vs. ROBYN MEECE ADMISSION AND DISPOSITION HEARING ON PETITION TO REVOKE
9:30 AM	3:01-CR-00118-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. KATESHA LASHON BROWN STATUS HEARING
10:00 AM	3:06-CR-00041-17-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. YIN TAK MIN PROPOSED CHANGE OF PLEA HEARING
11:00 AM	3:06-CR-00041-08-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. JUSTIN KILLIAN PROPOSED CHANGE OF PLEA HEARING
1:15 PM	3:06-CR-00041-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. THOMAS RANES FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE
2:30 PM	3:07-CR-00088-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. STEVEN ALLEN LANDERS HEARING ON MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL / SCHEDULING CONFERENCE
3:00 PM	3:06-CR-00041-01-RRB	Judge Beistline	Anchorage Courtroom 2
USA vs. JOSHUA S. MURPHY PROPOSED CHANGE OF PLEA
3:30 PM	4:07-CR-00013-01-RRB	Judge Beistline	Fairbanks Courtroom 1
USA vs. CHRISTOPHER SMITH STATUS CONFERENCE

Pete Kott Trial Day 6 PM - Don't Forget Your Helmet

This afternoon we heard from Bill Allen, the former CEO of the company that was known as Veco. Under Government questioning he told about his life. This could have been an Alaska oral history project. Allen was born in New Mexico in 1937, family moved to Oregon where they picked crops, and then back to New Mexico. He dropped out of high school at 15 and got a job in the oil fields as an assistant welder for El Paso Natural Gas. "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."

I should say here that before he began this tale, Prosecutor Goeke asked him about an accident. He was in a motorcycle accident in 2001 without a helmet and hit his head on the pavement. He has images, but sometimes has trouble finding the words to convey what he's thinking. It was emphasized that his thinking is not impaired, only his speech. And it was slow and deliberate as he sometimes paused waiting for the word to come to him - long pauses. This explained some of the long, long (15-20 seconds) on the telephone tapes.

Anyway, he had his first test (welding I think) at 17 and was a welder foreman at 21 and a supervisor at 24 or 25. I don't have time tonight to go into all the details, but he made it to Alaska where he worked on Cook Inlet oil platform named King Salmon in 1968. Arco asked him to form his own company which got joined with a similar one owned by Wayne Veltri and the beginings of Veco were formed.

OK, this is not going to get to deep today. Tonight is Erev (the eve of) Rosh Hashona and we have people over for dinner and then we go to synagogue. Tomorrow I will again miss the trial , this time to observe Rosh Hashona.

I think the key points will be available at the Anchorage Daily News, and I'll get blogging again tomorrow night. But it is interesting to see the effect of education here, or rather limited education. At the Anderson trial, most of the key players had at least a college degree. They at least talked about right and wrong. There was some profanity, but not too much. Here, the focus is strictly on getting things done so I can get what I need for my company to get business or for me to get a job. The 'fuck's are frequent in the conversation. And there is no discussion at all about the public interest, the public good. The legislature is just an obstacle to be overcome and has no real legitimate role. At least it hasn't been mentioned or talked about. Of course, one can argue that those with education should be held to a higher standard and I don't have a response to that.

Anyway, people are here and I have to quit. Happy New Year to all.

Peter Kott Trial Day 6 - noon report

I got into the courtroom about 9:20am, while the jury was listening to a tape.

Overview of morning (from 9:20am-11:45am)

1. Listening to tapes Exhibits 56-62
2. Cross examination of FBI Agent Steve J. Dunphy who verified that the CD's placed in evidence were accurate copies of the original.
3. Some discussion among attorneys and the judge about how the defense could cross examine Dunphy and the possibility of their bringing in other audio evidence

The Tapes

While I was in the court they listened to Exhibits 56-62

Topics covered:

1. Polling data for Kott election campaign, how he was doing (not well) and Allen and Smith getting polls done for him by Dittman Research

2. Hardwood floor installation by Kott at Allen's house and the payment for that work - $19,993

3. Allen and Smith concerned about helping Kott get work for Kott's son

4. The reaction of the oil companies to the legislature's not going along with the Governor's gas pipeline bill and PPT legislation

5. Kott flying to Anchorage for an afternoon/evening (then returning to Juneau) so he can attend Don Young's pig roast and get a campaign picture of himself with Don Young (did he he get reimbursed by the state for that trip? That wasn't mentioned)

6. Going to Florida or Barbados to work as a prison warden and play with the pretty women

The conversations were from three tapped phones: Allen's home and cell and Smith's cell.

The conversations were between end of July and August 30. Other important events then were the state legislature's special session which was in July and August 2007. Also the Alaska primary elections were August 22. So the last tape - on August 30 was after Kott had lost his Republican primary reelection bid. In that tape Bill Allen asks him if he is ok. It also sounds like Allen now knows his phone is tapped. He asks Kott questions about how he got reimbursed :

Bill Allen: Did Rick get it done for you?

Peter Kott: Yeah.

BA: How'd he do it? Can you tell me?

PK: Laughing. Shit, what we talked about with you 4-5 weeks ago - add an extra to your bill or something.

The trial should be starting back now. I'll try to report more later.