Sen. Stevens `a Guy You Would Take on a Long Patrol,’ Colin Powell Tells Corruption Case Jury

Defense attorneys are trying to establish that Stevens did pay for a series of home improvements, including an addition to what was once a modest, A-frame cabin in Girdwood, Alaska.

The owners of a construction company and a dirt excavation business testified Friday that Stevens and his wife paid them thousands of dollars for services associated with the addition.

Toney Hannah told jurors he had received three checks totaling roughly $4,900 from the senator’s wife, Catherine Stevens, in the summer and fall of 2000. Hannah testified that the checks covered costs associated with raising Stevens’ house and laying the foundation for an addition.

On cross-examination, Hannah testified that another of Stevens’ friends, Bob Persons, complained to him that the work Hannah’s company performed had cost too much.

Stevens entrusted Persons to oversee the addition, and prosecutors have introduced numerous e-mails in which Persons tells Stevens that he is working to keep costs down, including an Oct. 13, 2000, e-mail in which Persons tells Stevens he believed Hannah had overcharged him.

Robert and Jean Redmond, owners of a Girdwood-based excavation company, each testified about work their company performed at Stevens’ home in preparation for the addition.

Jean Redmond, who handles bills for the company, said Stevens and his wife paid promptly and in full for about $3,500 worth of services in fall 2000 and that the Stevens routinely paid for things on time.

“We’ve always been paid,” said Redmond, eliciting a rare smile from Stevens, who has sat quietly for most of his weeks-long trial. “Always. Everything.”

Defense attorneys also noted that Stevens’ wife, not the senator, signed the checks entered into evidence Friday. They have argued that Catherine Stevens primarily handled the renovation for the couple, who was often in Washington while the improvements were being made.

Other witnesses called Friday included Louise Johnson, who formerly handled constituent services for the senator. Johnson testified that Stevens did not give preferential treatment to a 1999 visa request from a VECO employee and that the senator gave her wide latitude to prioritize requests.

“I treated all my case requests the same,” she testified.

Prosecutors have sought to establish that Stevens did favors for VECO at the same time the company was paying for his home addition, and contend that Stevens was motivated, in part, to conceal the gifts he received because people in Alaska were aware of his close association with VECO.

Character Witnesses

Sen. Stevens `a Guy You Would Take on a Long Patrol,’ Colin Powell Tells Corruption Case Jury

In the coming days, defense lawyers are likely to call additional witnesses to vouch for Stevens.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said Stevens will be able to call a total of five character witnesses, but not the full list of 11 submitted by Stevens’ lawyers to testify to his “truthfulness and veracity.”

“You select the five or I’ll select the five,” the judge said.

Two former cabinet members, a Capitol police officer, an Episcopal priest, a World War II pilot, a former District of Columbia council member and a former Stevens staffer are among the character witnesses defense lawyers may still call.

Sens. Orrin G. Hatch , R-Utah, and Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass., were on the larger list Stevens’ lawyers submitted, but they noted that Kennedy, who is battling a malignant brain tumor, is unlikely to testify because of his health.

Hatch would testify “as to Senator Stevens’ reputation for truthfulness within the United States Senate and his personal opinion regarding Senator Stevens’ character for truthfulness,” according to a court filing.

Another prominent Democrat, Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, was on an earlier list of possible witness but was never asked to testify, said his spokesman, David Carle.

The judge pared back the list after prosecutors noted that the court rarely allows the defense to call more than three such witnesses.

“The government believes that some of these purported character witnesses will be called solely to cast defendant in a sympathetic light, provide specific instances of alleged good-deeds which defendant might have allegedly engaged in at some point in time, or to show that defendant is a defendant possessed the traits of personal integrity and dedication to public service,” prosecutors said in their court filing.

Defense attorneys still plan to call more than a dozen witnesses to testify at the trial, which enters its fourth week Monday.

Leah Nylen contributed to this story.