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WASHINGTON -- A list of character witnesses that Sen. Ted Stevens wants to call to the stand in his corruption trial -- a list that includes Sens. Orrin Hatch and Edward Kennedy -- must be cut in half, the judge said Friday.
In court papers, the defense had argued it should be able to call as many witnesses as it wanted to vouch for Stevens. But before testimony began Friday, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the list of 10 names should be reduced to five.
The defense began its case on Thursday by calling Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was also slated to testify Friday on behalf of the senator from Alaska.
It was unclear when and if Hatch would testify. Though Kennedy was listed, lawyers said the ailing senator would only appear if his health improves.
Stevens, 84, is accused of lying on Senate forms to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations on his cabin and other gifts from Bill Allen, the former chief of the oil services company, VECO Corp.
Inouye emphatically testified to Stevens' honesty.
"His reputation for truthfulness and honesty is what, sir?" asked defense attorney Brendan Sullivan.
"Absolute," Inouye answered.
Inouye is one of Stevens' best friends, with the two World War II veterans calling each other "brother" and the Democratic senator going so far to as to hold a fundraising lunch for the Republican senator in Washington in April.
The judge put no restrictions on defense plans to call several other witnesses from Alaska to try to back up Stevens' claim that he was too busy in Washington to pay close attention to the renovation of the home near Anchorage, which his wife oversaw. His lawyers also say their client assumed that the $160,000 they paid to another contractor covered everything.
It remained unclear whether Stevens, the plainspoken, longest-serving Senate Republican and patriarch of Alaska politics for generations, would take the stand in his own defense. He has languished in the federal courtroom as a Democratic opponent back home mounts a strong challenge to the seat he's held for 40 years.
Justice Department lawyers, who rested their case Thursday, relied on testimony by several VECO workers who, starting in 2000, labored for months to transform Stevens' modest A-frame cabin into a two-story home with wraparound decks, new electricity and plumbing, a sauna and a master-bedroom balcony.
Prosecutors called as their star witness Allen, who has pleaded guilty to bribery in a corruption investigation resulting in convictions of several Alaska legislators.
A self-made multimillionaire who has known Stevens for more than two decades, Allen testified that the senator came up with the idea for the renovations to make room for visiting grandchildren. As the work progressed, Stevens sometimes asked him for invoices, but Allen said he ignored the requests because he liked his old fishing and drinking buddy too much, and the senator never paid VECO.
If convicted, Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each of seven charges, though under federal sentencing guidelines, he probably would receive much less prison time, if any.
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On the Net:
Justice Department documents: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/us-v-stevens/
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