The Legal Times reports:

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan suspended the trial of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens Thursday morning, after it was revealed in court that prosecutors withheld FBI records that could have aided in Stevens' defense. The Republican senator's lawyers at Williams & Connolly immediately called for Sullivan to dismiss the case.

The records in question showed that the government's star witness, former VECO CEO Bill Allen, told federal investigators that he believed Stevens would have paid for the renovations he is accused of omitting on his financial disclosure forms if the senator had received the invoices. The government waited until last night to hand the records over, which Brenda Morris, the lead prosecutor, imputed to "human error."

"It strikes me that this was probably intentional. I find it unbelievable that this was just an error," Sullivan said.

Despite prosecutors' failure to disclose potentially exculpatory information in a timely fashion, Judge Emmett Sullivan will not dismiss the corruption charges against Senator Ted Stevens.

"Although the court is persuaded there is a . . . violation, the court is not persuaded that dismissal of the indictment or mistrial is the appropriate remedy," said U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. He added that the government's actions had broken his trust in the prosecutors and ordered them to give Stevens's attorneys copies of all witness interviews.

"The court has no confidence in the government's ability" to meet its obligations to ensure a fair trial, he said.