New Book, Not Guilty: The Unlawful Prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens,
Recounts Case, Prosecutorial Misconduct by the Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. (Sept. 16, 2014) – Today, Rob Cary, a defense attorney for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, released a new book – Not Guilty: The Unlawful Prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (NACDL Press/Thomson Reuters) – recounting the trial six years ago of a powerful senator.
On Oct. 27, 2008, Stevens was wrongfully found guilty of allegedly failing to disclose gifts, leading him to lose reelection just eight days later by 3,953 votes. But in April 2009, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan vacated the verdict at the request of Attorney General Eric Holder after it was revealed that prosecutors had withheld evidence of innocence from the defense.
More than the story of a trial, Cary details how a federal prosecution team conspired to bring down Stevens by hiding evidence and manipulating facts. The reviews for Not Guilty: The Unlawful Prosecution of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens are compelling:
"Rob Cary has done a public service with this exposé, a personal odyssey as layer after layer of official corruption is laid bare. It is a shocking, deeply sobering tale that every American worried about the concentration of power in the federal government should read and study. No one is safe, not even a powerful, well-connected legislator with 40 years in the United States Senate like Ted Stevens," said Bob Woodward, associate editor of The Washington Post and author of 17 national best-selling books
"This riveting account from one of our country's great lawyers shows how vulnerable any citizen can be to prosecutorial abuse. But for the heroic efforts of a talented legal team and a courageous judge, the Department of Justice's concealment of exculpatory evidence would never have come to light. If prosecutors can cheat a U.S. senator and get away with it (almost), they can cheat anyone. This must-read book makes a persuasive and urgent case for criminal justice reform that can be implemented tomorrow," said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project
"This is an extraordinarily important book, a must read not only for lawyers, but federal judges. Cary goes behind the stunning headlines – prosecutors' withholding exculpatory evidence, presenting false documents, a wrongful guilty verdict of a sitting senator. He shows how the prosecutor's failures skewed the defense, the openings, the closings, the examination of witnesses. And the failures resound in white collar cases in particular – where crimes are vaguely defined, where acts are characterized as illegal after the fact. No one reading this book will see Brady v. Maryland obligations as an abstraction, a technicality. And everyone should be chilled; if it could happen to a well-represented public figure, it could happen to any of us," said Hon. Nancy Gertner (Retired)
A short video about the book featuring Cary is available online by clicking here.
NACDL's The Criminal Docket podcast series also has a new episode featuring Cary and the book, available here.
For a review copy of the book or an interview with Rob Cary, please contact Sarah Christiano at 202-789-7769.
This book is available for purchase at www.nacdl.org/nacdlpress.
Rob Cary is a partner at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. He represents clients in civil and criminal trials and government investigations around the country. Cary is well known for his representation of the late U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, which was called "one of the best criminal defense performances in memory." Cary is also a frequent speaker on criminal law, legal ethics and professional liability. For a full bio, visit http://www.wc.com/rcary.
Contacts
Sarah Christiano, 202-789-7769, schristiano@fenton.com.
Ivan J. Dominguez, NACDL Director of Public Affairs & Communications, (202) 465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org for more information.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.