Alaska senator trial in disarray

Mr Stevens has been in the US Senate since 1968

A US judge has halted the corruption trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens after defence lawyers said prosecutors had withheld vital evidence.

Judge Emmet Sullivan sent the jury home while he decided whether to dismiss the charges and declare a mistrial.

Mr Stevens is accused of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms about gifts from an oil firm.

Mr Stevens, who is the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, has denied the charges.

Defence lawyer Brendan Sullivan asked the judge on Thursday morning to dismiss the charges against his client.

He said that prosecution lawyers had not turned over FBI reports about their star witness, Bill Allen, who had already testified, until late on Wednesday night.

Prosecutor Brenda Morris admitted a mistake had been made, but said it was not sufficient to declare a mistrial.

"We are human and we made an error," she said.

Visibly annoyed, Judge Emmet said that was "unbelievable" and "very troubling", and told the prosecution to hand over to the defence all FBI interviews with witnesses.

He ordered both sides to file briefs on the matter and said he would discuss it later in the day.

Election

Mr Stevens is accused of failing to disclose $250,000 (£135,000) of work done on his house free of charge by employees of the Veco oil company that normally builds pipelines and processing equipment.

His lawyers say the reports withheld until Wednesday by the prosecution related to an FBI agent's interview with Mr Allen, Veco's founder, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges in May 2007.

The interview showed that Mr Allen believed Mr Stevens, his long-time friend, would have paid for the renovations if he had billed him.

Mr Stevens has pleaded not guilty, saying he has "never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a US senator".

Mr Stevens has continued to campaign since he was indicted in July.

His Senate seat is up for grabs in November's election and polls suggest he is facing a tough battle against his Democratic challenger, Mark Begich, if he is to secure an eighth term.

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