"It was Ted Stevens's moment to savor sweet vindication yesterday, but, in courtroom 24A, bitterness prevailed.

"You'd think there would be jubilation, that we'd be high-fiving each other around the office," Brendan Sullivan, attorney for the fallen senator, said of the moment two weeks ago when he learned of the prosecutorial misconduct that would lead the government to drop the case against his client. "My reaction was sick; I was sick in my stomach," he said. "It was revulsion, revulsion turned to anger. . . . I was in a silent rage."

Sullivan dropped the silent part yesterday, but kept the rage. For an hour, he railed in court about "corrupt prosecutors," "false evidence," "intentional misconduct," and "devious and willful" deceit. The judge was already set to throw out the case, so Sullivan's tirade was less a legal argument than a blowing off of steam. "Nothing can be done to give the citizens of Alaska the senator they surely would have elected," he said as the 85-year-old Stevens, defeated for reelection a week after his guilty verdict last year, stared at the ceiling. "The government cannot do much except to say they're sorry . . . sorry prosecutors were unethical and dishonest and caused you to lose an election."

Judge Emmet Sullivan joined the assault, announcing that he was opening criminal proceedings to investigate Brenda Morris, William Welch and the other prosecutors in the case for withholding exculpatory evidence from the defense. "This is indeed a dramatic day in a case that has had many dramatic and unfortunately shocking and disturbing moments," he announced, spitting out his words with disgust. "In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the misconduct and mishandling that I've seen in this case.""

Get the Story:
Washington Sketch by Dana Milbank: For Ted Stevens, Rough Justice (The Washington Post 4/8)

More Stories:
Judge Orders Probe of Attorneys in Stevens Case (The Washington Post 4/8)
Tables Turned on Prosecution in Stevens Case (The New York Times 4/8)

Related Stories:
DOJ drops corruption case against Ted Stevens (4/2)