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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:43 p.m., Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Sen. Inouye may be called to testify in trial of Alaska Sen. Stevens

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

In this Thursday Aug. 16, 2007 file photo, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, left, and Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, look over the area at the Spencer Glacier, in back, south of Girdwood, Alaska during the dedication of the first phase of the Alaska Railroad and the U.S. Forest Service's Whistle Stop service. Stevens, the nation's longest-serving Republican senator and a major figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was indicted Tuesday on seven felony counts of concealing more than a quarter of a million dollars in house renovations and gifts from a powerful oil contractor that lobbied him for government aid.

AL GRILLO FILE PHOTO | AP

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WASHINGTON — Hawai'i Sen. Daniel K. Inouye would be among the first witnesses called in defense of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.

Inouye, a longtime friend of Stevens, could take the stand Thursday in Stevens' corruption trial.

Prosecutors have already presented their side of the case, with witnesses testifying on accusations that Stevens tried to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations to his cabin and other gives from an oil pipeline executive.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan refused today to declare a mistrial in the corruption case against Stevens.

Shortly after the government concluded its case today against the veteran Alaska lawmaker, Sullivan heard defense attorneys argue again that prosecutors violated rules of evidence by intentionally withholding information that would help the defense.

Prosecutors insisted they had followed the rules.