NATION : Witness Stalls Impeachment Case
A key witness refused to testify today in the Senate impeachment trial of federal Judge Alcee Hastings and was warned that he might be sent to jail for contempt of Congress.
William Borders, a former Washington lawyer who was convicted in 1982 of conspiracy to bribe Hastings, refused to answer 10 questions about the case asked by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) at a hearing of a special Senate committee taking testimony in the trial.
Borders had previously refused to answer questions from the committee on July 24 and July 27. He was appearing under a subpoena and was granted immunity from prosecution for his testimony.
Hastings, a U.S. District Court judge in Florida, was acquitted of the bribery charges in a 1983 jury trial but was impeached by the House last year.
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