Judge Rejects Jefferson Motion on Evidence
A federal judge has denied a motion by Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) to suppress evidence seized in a 2005 search of his Louisiana home.
Judge T.S. Ellis of the Eastern District Court of Virginia ruled that e-mails, documents and bank statements taken during the search were seized legally and within the parameters of a search warrant and the plain view doctrine.
Ellis did grant Jefferson one small victory. He suppressed photographs taken by FBI agents of Jeffersons 1991 calendar/date book and of documents related to the Moss Creek Corp., neither of which were tied to the alleged illegal business deals for which Jefferson will stand trial.
The court also ruled that because the calendar and Moss Creek documents had not been used to further the investigation, they had not tainted the other materials obtained from Jeffersons home.
Jefferson is scheduled to go on trial in December on charges that he illegally aided companies trying to set up business deals in Africa.