More Reasons For A Far Away Stevens Investigation

We noted last week that a Washington, DC grand jury — rather than one in Anchorage –is investigating Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) shifty involvement with oil services company Veco Corp. Today the Anchorage Daily News offers more fodder for why federal investigators would want to set up shop so far from home.

The story is about the headache prosecutors are nursing in selecting a jury for the trial of former state Rep. Tom Andseron (R-AK). Anderson is charged with taking $24,000 in bribes from a company hoping to build a number of private prisons in Alaska. Though the case is not directly tied to the Veco scandal, Anderson was a Veco consultant while in office.

Prosecutors are hitting two problems with potential jurors that cut in opposite directions: their apparent low regard for local politicians and the inevitable ties within a small community. Here’s what two rejected jury candidates had to say about Anderson:

“I’ve already made up my mind,” Donald Burns of Soldotna told a U.S. District Court judge on Monday. Burns, wearing a T-shirt and a baseball cap, said he listens to talk radio, watches TV news and reads two newspapers. “I hope they hang him,” he said.

…

When longtime Anchorage resident Hannah Davis heard about the charges against Anderson, her reaction was, “Oh no, not another one,” she told the judge. Too often, people in power, from Anchorage to Washington, D.C., use their positions for personal gain, she said.

As for community ties, one potential juror said she had gone on a date with Anderson and said she found the accusations “kind of unbelievable.”

How a potential jury would receive Stevens if he were ever on trial is hard to say. Stevens has been in office since 1968 and is an Alaska icon, bringing his state millions in federal dollars. His re-election campaign has already raked in $1 million and no viable competitor has stepped up to the plate. But some in the state have called him less popular and more vulnerable than in past elections. However a jury might cut for Stevens, it’s clear that a prosecutor won’t find 12 Alaskans who’ve never heard of him.