Kohring trial moved to Fairbanks

ANCHORAGE — The corruption and bribery trial of former Wasilla state Rep. Vic Kohring has been moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

In an order dated Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline wrote that reporting on Kohring since his conviction and the overturning of that conviction has been intense.

“As defendant’s pleadings suggest, jury selection would likely proceed without great difficulty in other communities within the District of Alaska where the publicity has been far less than in Anchorage,” Beistline writes. “Fairbanks, in particular, would be appropriate. Defendant has not been tried in Fairbanks before, is not personally known there and has not received the level of publicity there as he has in Anchorage.”

The ruling came after Kohring moved in early July to have his trial moved out of state. In his motion, Kohring’s attorney argued that Alaska had a small jury pool, that there had been a lot of negative publicity surrounding the case, that the judge in his last trial made some damaging statements that were widely reported and that the larger investigation Kohring’s case was a part of received very widespread coverage.

Beistline didn’t quite buy it.

“While Kohring has been the subject of considerable post-trial publicity in Anchorage and statewide, and has a history in the community of Anchorage that could complicate jury selection, the court concludes, based on its years of experience in jury selection throughout Alaska, that with sufficient time and effort a fair and unbiased jury could be obtained in Anchorage,” the judge says in his ruling.

But, he said, Kohring does have a point. The trial and its aftermath had been publicized in Alaska newspapers for years.

“While there is no basis to transfer this matter outside of Alaska, it shall be transferred intra-district to Fairbanks for trial only,” Beistline wrote.

Kohring was part of a wide-ranging federal investigation that came to ensnare numerous state officials and businessmen. His trial was moved to Fairbanks at the same time as a similar ruling in the case against Pete Kott, an Anchorage representative caught up in the investigation, which surrounded legislators’ relationships with Bill Allen, former CEO of now-defunct oilfield services company VECO.

Kohring was charged with extortion and bribery in May 2007. At trial, prosecutors showed video of him accepting cash from Allen. Kohring has argued at trial that the money was a gift. The Anchorage jury in his first trial sided with the prosecution on three of the four counts and reached a verdict Nov. 1, 2007. But Kohring and a number of other convicted lawmakers were freed from prison after it came to light that federal prosecutors had withheld evidence in their broad-ranging investigation.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.